


Stay Safe

by SpiralGoddess



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2020-08-19 21:15:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20216389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiralGoddess/pseuds/SpiralGoddess
Summary: The adventure of Hollow-5 as she navigates the threats against her system and a love for a rather stoic Crucible handler.





	1. Chapter 1

Eggshell, her ghost, twirled beside her as they flew back towards the Tower. She truly felt bad that she was going to be late for the ceremony but there was nothing she could do about it, the vanguard had sent her to check out Venus after all. The Red Jacks were keeping the planet pretty well maintained but it seemed as if a few had disappeared and since she was in the area they had asked for her assistance.   
  
Eggshell had changed her into her ceremonial robes as she flew back, the gaudy gold and black robes weren’t her favorite but they were required for today. While he was thrilled with his new shell he had already expressed a few times how he wished he could still be under his sheet. She wasn’t sure why but he loved hiding under it and disguising himself to fit his ‘ghost’ name. 

She smoothed the fabric over her knees before shifting her attention out the window and towards the large storm brewing around the tower. 

He had been prattling along while she was distracted, trying to get someone at the tower to answer him. Most likely whoever was supposed to be working comms had snuck out to grab a few drinks to drink their sorrows for having to work today. Even the civilians enjoyed the parties the towers threw, most of them just enjoyed watching guardians dance or throw themselves off the tower edge or from high ledges to see how long it took for their Ghost to revive them. 

She glanced down at her ghost as its body bounced worriedly. No response on the emergency channels was a different story. Something was wrong.   
  
“Remember when I told you that you fly too fast?” 

She shrugged, that was about every time they went out flying. 

“Forget I said that. Fly fast.”

She nodded before leaning forward allowing her engines to swell to life and rocket them towards the tower. She could tell he was worried, just as he could feel that she was worried. The first time she had connected mentally with her ghost she was unsure if it was because she was an exo or if it was because she was now a guardian. Though, upon meeting other guardians it was proved to be the latter.

They pierced through the clouds and she felt the gears in her throat tighten. Fire illuminated the Last City in an orange haze as Cabal ships fired at the guardian ships equipped with guns. Very few had them, her own included, they had jump ships, ships designed to take them far away and quickly but never needed in a firefight. The Cabal fleet was overwhelming. 

“Dropping you off!” 

She was transmatted out of her seat, the light flowing through her as he placed her in what was at one point the docking bay. Fire roared around her the heat forcing her to adjust her temperature sensors so she doesn’t overheat. Eggshell’s light flickered through her as he adjusted them for her, a silent gesture between the two as he disappeared into his hidey-hole in her robes. 

The wall in front of her exploded and she pulled her sidearm from her hip quickly disposing of the two Cabal in front of her. She was not going to let these foul beasts do any harm more harm to her tower. She sprinted forward a cry tearing from her lips as she watched a legionary lunge forward and spear a Red Jack. She built the void energy burning inside of her into her hand and flung it towards the beasts rounding the corner. Firing bullets into the enemy she pushed forward watching them drop. 

She paused for a moment while Zavala’s voice cut through her comms her hands resting on top of the Red Jack before standing to her feet and pushing towards the Plaza. Another Red Jack slammed into the wall caused her to hesitate, a bullet piercing her armor from her distraction. She turned in anger slamming her palm forward to push the Cabal away from her before firing a few rounds into his skull. 

She would rally with Zavala, they would take back their tower. They would show the Cabal the true force of the Traveler’s Chosen. 

She opened the door, her finger nearly pushing a bullet through her fellow exo as the Hunter Vanguard leaned against the door. A quirky remark in her direction and she watched as solar light formed his Golden Gun and he fired into the Cabal behind him. 

“It’ll be a short date.”

“ _ Cayde!”  _

He winked in her direction before jumping into the air and allowing Sundance to transmat him away. He was going to get himself hurt, he was going to get himself  _ killed  _ by running off alone. Sure, everyone in the tower knew he preferred to go it alone but not now,  _ not now. _

She groaned before turning towards the stairs and hesitating at the bottom, a pair of Red Jacks perched across the top guns aimed towards her figure. The recognized her and their guns dropped instantly nodding down the hallway and away from the closed-door another was guarding. 

Civilians, innocent civilians littered the hallway and she fell silent as she almost always was. She could feel Eggshell shifting under her robes and she patted the nervous bot. These were innocent people, they didn’t deserve to be caught up in this. 

Guardians had promised them protection, peace, safety and  _ they had failed. _

A large figure loomed at the end of the hallway and she felt the gears in her throat seize, oh how she wanted to call out for Shaxx. Ask him what he needed her to do. Ask him how she could help these people survive. 

He stood to his full height and she froze a few feet in front of him. 

“Ahh, Saladin’s Young Wolf. My armory is open to you. Follow the path from there. It will lead you through the Hangar to the Plaza.”

She watched as he turned to pry the doors open, 

“I’ll take care of the people here. If the Cabal want a war,  _ give them war.” _

She paused near the titan and watched as he twisted his head from the doorway towards her. She was so small in comparison, although, even the titans in her clan seemed small in comparison. 

She opened and closed her mouth a few times before Eggshell flickered to life removing her helmet so she could stare up at the titan. So he could see her face. 

She had run the Crucible religiously, hearing his praises over the comms brought life to her repetitive actions. She spent most of her time running errands for the Vanguard. Strikes, missions, running patrols and interrupting enemy events on planets filled her days. At the end of the day though she was never too tired to visit Shaxx, to show the new guardians what harnessing light truly was.

She would feel the void filling her soul, the dark energy boiling out from inside of her and hurling the darkened light towards her enemies, watching as it burnt them, the explosion of energy tearing them apart. Shaxx was the one to give her praise, to tell her to keep fighting, to ‘show them what you’ve got!’   
  
She knew he did that for every guardian, praise their abilities to continue the fight. It was why he was so respected in the tower, why so many people kept going back to the Crucible even after a bitter defeat. It didn't make his praises towards her any less special. She worked hard for his praises. 

She rose a shaking hand placing it on the chest plate of the man holding the door open for her. She didn't know why she needed to do this, maybe it was the small voice in her head that told her it might be the last time she would see him. Forcing the gears in her throat to move her voice crackled through the speakers.

“Stay safe.”

With that she was gone, she tore off down the hallway, stopping only to grab the weapons Shaxx had offered her before heading through the doorway and down the ramps. She could hear him bellowing behind her, that she was to ‘stay safe’ that ‘the crucible will need you, guardian’. Her helmet materialized around her head and her HUD lit up, red flashing across her radar.

It was time to end this war. 


	2. Chapter 2

She sprinted forward, Eggshell materializing beside her as it continued to try and connect with Amanda. The radio silence had them both worried the skilled pilot had been shot down. Stopping at the middle of the platform the pair glanced towards the Traveler. 

“How do we come back from this?”

_ “You don’t.” _

The voice was large and echoed even through the open space. Three large figures walked out onto the platform from the door she had just exited. It was clear who was the one who spoke, the white armor was gaudy and flamboyant compared to the Cabal’s normal dark red armor. She pulled her gun from her harness as she readied herself for a fight. 

“Welcome to a world without light.”

She spun in the direction his hand had gestured and watched in horror as an orange light flickered over the Traveler. All thoughts of the Cabal behind her left her mind as the orange light consumed their silent friend. She felt her light jump, the most uncomfortable feeling she would never be able to properly explain but it felt like her soul was tearing from her body. The light slid from her body forming a silhouette of herself before it vanished in a wisp with the wind. 

Weakness consumed her body, a type of weakness she had never felt before. Even being suppressed by a Hive witch wasn’t this bad. Eggshell murmured a weak cry before dropping to the floor beside her feet, her body following his as she crashed to her knees, her hands catching herself before her head could hit the metal.

Ghaul’s footsteps shook the metal as he moved towards her and she pushed all her energy into grabbing onto Eggshell and pulling him towards her body. It took everything she had to slowly drag his shell towards her, by the time he was safely tucked under her Ghaul had stopped a foot away from her body. 

She could feel the gears in her body seizing as her energy redirected itself elsewhere. Trying to keep her CPU online, keep her conscious and moving. Years of deaths and firefights came crashing down on top of her and she could feel the wear and tear it had done to her body. 

She twisted her head up at the wretched creature, his voice booming down towards her, rattling the gears in her head before his foot contacted her stomach. 

She was launched across the platform her body flipping several times as it soared through the air before scraping across the metal and into a small puddle that had formed near the end of the ship.

She knew that he was speaking, she could make out key words every now and again but she couldn’t focus on what he was saying. Everything was blurry and fuzzy and where was Eggshell? Where had he gone? 

She forced herself to her knees, her hands gripping the metal as hard as she could. She needed to find Eggshell, she had to protect him.  _ She had to protect him _ . 

“You have merely forgotten the fear of death.”

She was standing now, although not tall or strongly, she was weak and kept wobbling, fighting against everything to fall again. 

“Allow me to reacquaint you.”

The back of his hand, the hand larger than her head made contact with the side of her helmet and sent her flying once more. She spun through the air again, her vision completely shutting off through the spin as wires disconnected and gears dislodged themselves. She landed on her back skidding the remaining length of the ship. 

She moved to scream, the gears broken in her throat and silent as she watched Eggshell fly past her and plummet towards the Last City. 

She twisted her hand extending towards her partner as she silently screamed at the decent. He would wake up, wouldn’t he? He would be able to keep himself from shattering,  _ wouldn’t he!? _

“Your kind never deserved the power you were given.”

Rage boiled through her circuits, adrenaline filling her gears and forcing them to work. To have taken her light was one thing, but to have taken her Ghost? Her partner? The first thing she had seen upon revival? That was unacceptable.

She turned to face him, still unable to stand to her full height, even with the rage flowing through her. What she wouldn’t give to have the void fill her, to launch a nova straight into his face. To watch as the void ate away at his body. 

“I am Ghaul, and your light…”

She finally made it to her knees, staring up at the man before her she truly felt helpless. Helpless in the face of an enemy that she could do nothing against. She had no light, no gun, and now Eggshell…

“...is mine.”

She watched as his foot brought itself up to her face. She was thankful she had seen Shaxx once more, to be able to touch him, even if it was meaningless to him. To finally speak with him, to be able to say something to him without Eggshell saying it for her. She was thankful her partner helped with her shyness but now he had finally heard her voice. 

Ghaul’s kick had no force behind it, she wasn’t worth the effort anymore. It was just a simple motion of his leg that sent her careening backward and into the abyss below them. Maybe she would be able to fall beside Eggshell, to be able to see him briefly before she shut down.    
  
This would be it after all. Hollow had reset before, 4 times to be exact, but she had always been awoken by Eggshell. Would she be able to wake up this time? Would she be able to reset herself without him? Would she even want too?

Red warning lights filled her vision, systems failing as she fell. With a last flash of red her system shut down and she continued her fall in peace. 


	3. Chapter 3

Exo’s didn’t dream. They could replay memories but never create anything like a dream. The only dream that eluded her and many other Exo’s was the Deep Stone Crypt. She wasn’t like Cayde, able to recall life before her change. She couldn’t remember anything before Eggshell found her. 

She had never seen the white bird before, its spectral body guiding her to where the Traveler first touched down on Io. She had never seen the Traveler there. Bodies underwater, arms stretched out towards the surface where the Traveler’s light was barely visible. 

It was harder and harder for her to understand the vision, large pyramids plunged into the water, a fish? A ship? Something pulling a planet into its maw, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. Then she could feel the Traveler’s light, watching as it shaped from an Arc staff to a Solar sword, forming a Void shield. 

The Traveler’s bird re-emerged, leading her vision to a large shard of their silent partner. She wasn’t sure exactly, but she knew it was in the EDZ. She wasn’t sure if it was the Traveler telling her or if she had somehow read a report of the shard lost to the wilds but she would find it. She would go to where the Traveler was telling her.

It was the constant wail of an alarm inside her head that informed her the reboot had started. She couldn’t see anything, couldn’t move or speak, not now, not during a reboot. She would always ponder her existence during these times, how even though she felt human, had human desires, the need to eat or sleep, she truly was just a pile of gears and wires. A pain shot through her head and she quickly pushed the thoughts aside, she didn’t need to focus on that now, she needed to figure out why Eggshell wasn’t helping her. 

Her vision reset and a world of flames entered her view. Ruins of buildings stood tall around her, flames bursting from windows as streaks of fire, no doubt fallen ships, streaked through the smoke covered sky. 

More warning lights filled her vision as her memory relived the events before it rebooted. Some parts were already fading, her drive forcing away memories that would end up hurting her. She clung to the memory of Eggshell, his small body falling helplessly towards the Last City. She clung to the hatred she had of Ghaul, his foot sending her effortlessly to what he thought was her death. 

She wasn’t sure how she survived, she could tell her right arm was mangled, even now she couldn’t move it. Wiggling her fingers on her left hand she realized three were missing, her pointer, middle and pinky finger had been torn from her hand by the rubble around her. 

It took all her energy to force the rubble from atop her body and much longer than she ever would have liked. She was weak but she was not helpless, she was going to find Eggshell, he would be okay and the pair were going to find safety. 

She wasn’t sure how long it took her to remove the pieces of the Last City, to free herself from her tomb, but she was finally able to roll to her knees lifting her head to stare into the sky. Even with damaged sensors, she could smell the death around her, the smell of burning flesh. She could hear the screams, whether Guardian or civilian she wasn’t sure but it didn’t matter. It was death.

She finally stood to her full height, her left arm wrapping around her stomach in pain. She could see Cabal forces moving in the distance, she would have to be careful or they would shoot her. Every few steps rocked her with pain, forced her to flinch as she moved slowly towards the ravine in front of her. Her head was on a constant swivel, twisting back and forth to make sure she wouldn’t round the corner into a slug shotgun. 

She stumbled as she reached the water, her foot no doubt catching on something she hadn’t seen. Sloshing through the water she tore her gaze from a ship buried under rubble and engulfed in flames. Had the guardian flying gotten to safety? Had their ship become their tomb? 

Fear tightened her gears as a Thresher pulled into view, it’s spotlight scanning the area she was currently moving through. She needed to find cover, the guns on the ship could easily tear her to shreds. 

Stumbling under another fallen jump ship she held her breath as the spotlight moved over where she was hiding before it moved on continuing its search. She stood under the ship for a moment, her eyes locking on to the tanks moving by on the road before. Hobbling as quickly as she could she moved forward and behind a pile of concrete and rebar to keep the Centurion from seeing her. 

The most amazing sound reached her sensors and it took everything she had not to run out and towards her ghost. Eggshell was below the bridge the Centurion was on and she prayed to the Traveler that he would ignore her stupid partner. She could see his flashlight from where she was and she was thankful for the gears locked in her throat, keeping her from yelling out to Eggshell to turn the damn thing off and be quiet. 

Once the beast had passed the bridge she darted forward, her body hunching low as she pushed her gears to the limit trying to reach him as quickly as she could. She could tell their connection was severed, he had yet to feel her presence, to hear her screaming at him mentally. His flashlight landed on her and for a moment she thought he had seen her, he had finally seen her! 

He swiveled away from her, plunging the light into the darkness behind him and she collapsed to her knees. It must have been the sound of her body crashing against the rubble that alerted her partner to her position as he spun around quickly flying over and expanding his shell to her. 

“You’re alive...I thought I’d lost you.”

She wanted to cry, she could feel the desire burning in her mind but knew she couldn’t. She could feel the need but her body wasn’t equipped to cry. Unable to produce tears. She could feel the Traveler’s light from inside her partner filling her with its power. Healing her body, fixing gears and wires, reconnecting broken pieces and fusing her mechanics back together. Eggshell knew her better than she did, knew what needed to be done to get her back to one piece. 

The fingers on her hand were still missing, still gone from her body, she knew until a revive was possible they would stay missing. Eggshell was on limited power, he even said so himself, he wouldn’t be able to revive her, not without a connection to the Traveler. 

She reached towards her shivering ghost, pulling her partner against her chest and holding him there. She didn’t care that she couldn’t revive, she could be careful, she was just thankful to finally have him back in her life. She would find him a new shell as soon as she could, his was burnt and damaged, chipped and scraped. 

He vanished inside her robes, she could feel him nestle into his typical place and a hole she hadn’t realized was there filled. Pulling the marred gun from her back she held the warped metal in front of her, she was thankful it was a pistol, it would be easier with her missing digits. 

She moved forward, listening as Eggshell filled the silence with his updates. Ghosts could still talk to each other, even with their connection to the Traveler severed. Moving her way through the tunnels dug out either by the explosion or by refugees she avoided the Cabal forces on the upper grounds. 

Exiting through a hole in the wall into the wilds she felt grief and despair overwhelm her, they were evacuating the planet? She froze in place, staring up at the mountains before her as her vision blurred. 

“We’re on our own...”

She thought of Shaxx, she wondered if he had been able to get the civilians out if they had been able to reach the rendezvous point and get to safety. Had Zavala escaped the tower? Had Ikora? Had Cayde? Her fists tightened around her gun, the empty piece of metal giving her only a slight comfort. Had her clan escaped? Her fireteam? How many were left now?

“Hollow...we need to keep moving…”

With shaking hands, she pushed forward and into the wilds. 


	4. Chapter 4

It had been two days since she left the city. Two days of walking into the mountains, Eggshell was able to guide her towards where the rendezvous point had been, whether or not they would find someone was a different story though. 

She watched as a falcon took off from a nearby rock and soared through the air, around a rocky outcrop and out of view. Her attention immediately shifted towards the large red flag to her left. A camp! She scrambled to the top her gaze falling down below to where the camp would be. 

“These Guardians….they didn’t stand a chance without their light.”

She felt sick, so very sick. She knew that Eggshell had told her they were killing guardians but they were so far out here. They were out in the wilds, had they hunted them down out here? She paused for a moment at their bodies, stowing her gun away she rolled the titan on to his back and laid the hunter beside their teammate. Slowly she moved through the area, carrying and dragging the other fireteam members to rest beside each other. 

She struggled with the tarps under their equipment as she moved to cover the bodies. It was the best she could do, for now, to give them some sort of burial until she could come back at a later time. Until someone could come back and honor them in the way they deserved. She prayed they were at rest, that the Traveler was with them wherever they were. 

Maybe their ghosts were still safe, tucked away and hidden. Shocked into silence from the deaths of their guardians. Was there a chance that once the Traveler was uncaged that their ghosts could revive them? That they would be able to wake up and rejoin the fight? Eggshell was quiet and she wondered if he knew and didn’t want to tell her...or if he didn’t know. 

She had picked up a submachine gun one of them had dropped. Thankful that there was ammo inside. She would be able to put up more of a fight now if Cabal forces found her. It was as if the Traveler had led her to this place to find the gun at this moment. The howl of warbeasts rattled her core and she quickly reloaded the weapon, she would need it full for this. 

The red beasts crested the ridge and she unloaded on them, watching them drop. With each kill, she thought of the guardians behind her, had these creatures led the Cabal to them? Were these the ones that tracked down her lightless comrades and sentenced them to death? Her anger boiled as she pushed forward. 

Her fist connected with the beast that lunged at her, she had been built to be a war machine. She had been built for strength and power, to protect her creators. To protect the innocent. A loud crack echoed from the beasts head as she shattered its skull, even without the light she was powerful. 

She moved through the area once all the warbeasts were dead. Watching as the falcon from earlier circled above her head, above a path she knew deep down she was to follow. 

Eggshell was keeping track for her, he had informed her that it had been a week since the attack. He had spent two days in the city trying to find her before she emerged. It made sense to her now why he had been so relieved when he had found her. He also told her that she had officially rebooted again, she was no longer Hollow-4, she was now Hollow-5.

“It’s that falcon again. Is it following us...?” 

She pondered the bird for a moment before it took flight, heading down a path and she paused watching it fly low and slow. 

“...or are we following it?”

Working her way through the gap she turned the corner to a sight that brought her to her knees. A cabal ship roared overhead as it headed towards the city, a city in flames. The fires were still roaring, smoke covered the view of most of the city, but the Traveler.  _ Oh, the Traveler… _

It was wrong to see it caged, trapped and locked down under Cabal forces, it fueled the fire inside of her as she knelt on the cliff face watching the city burn. She didn’t know how, but she was going to free the Traveler and kill those responsible for this. Responsible for the bodies burning in the city and those lost to the wilds. 

Forcing herself to stand once more she turned away from the city, she could do nothing now. Saving the Traveler would have to wait. Cresting the ridge she spotted the falcon again, she knew now she was indeed meant to follow it. 

She stumbled forward and down the hill, trying her best to keep up with the bird as it lead her on the correct path. She could only move so quickly though, without the light inside of her she was slow, she was unable to jump and float. Jumping off the small cliff in front of her she rushed forward, trying desperately to figure out where the falcon had gone. 

“Hollow!”

Eggshell’s voice pierced her distraction and she jumped to life, her hands quickly reloading the submachine gun as the warbeast descended upon her. A warbeast handler lunged into the clearing and she moved to hide behind a rock to avoid the shots the cabal had fired at her. She leaned around the rock quickly took out the remaining beasts before rushing the handler. 

Her fist connected with his stupidly small head, again and again, and again. She could feel the sensors in her hand burning with each punch, the strength behind each punch refusing to waiver as she smashed the beasts head into a pulp. 

She would do it to each cabal that crossed her path. 

Moving down the path she groaned, the cliff faces were small and she would need to jump across them to continue moving forward. This would have never been an issue with the Traveler’s blessing. She could have easily floated across but without the blessing, each jump was going to require all her strength. 

She stopped as she came to the bird once more. This gap was larger than the others, she was unsure if she would be able to make this jump, not when the smaller ones before were challenging. She stared at the bird as it sat and watched her, she knew it expected her to make the jump. 

Nodding to the bird she took a few steps back before sprinting forward and lunging across the gap. Her hands outstretched towards the rock, her fingers brushing against the edge before slipping off and she plummeted to the ground. 

Her vision was blurred when she came too, no doubt she had knocked some wires loose in the fall. A woman came into view her voice kind even with its teasing tone. 

“Oh look, someone left a perfectly good guardian lying around. Things must be worse than I thought.”

The woman extended her hand and Hollow took it thankful for the gesture of kindness. Eggshell popped out beside her and the woman eyed him for a moment before turning her attention towards the sound of ship engines roaring to life. 

“And that’s our cue! Time to go people!” 

Eggshell spun in front of her, pulling the woman’s attention back to the muted guardian. 

“Ah, but...wait! Where...where are you all going?” 

The woman turned away from Hollow as she moved towards the group of survivors behind her.    
  
“As far away from here as possible.”

A screech of the falcon drew their attention to the sky as the bird she had followed through the mountains dove from the sky perching himself atop the woman’s arm. 

“That falcon...it belongs to you?”

She eyed her ghost, both their confusion in how the falcon had managed to find them and lead them to this place. The woman nodded before lifting the bird in recognition. 

“The name’s Hawthorne, and this is Louis. Best pilot we got. What about you? Fit to fly?” 

Louis stared at her and she knew at that moment that the Traveler had sent him to find her. She would have never made it here without his guidance, this wasn’t the rendezvous point that ghost had been tracking. She nodded towards Hawthorne and the woman smiled. 

“Probably gonna need one of these, too.”

She tossed a new gun to the guardian and she caught it, fumbling with it for a moment before drawing her attention back towards Hawthorne.

“Time to make yourself useful. ‘Guardian.’ ”

She spun away from Hawthorne shouting to the survivors as they scrambled to load into the ships waiting nearby. Hawthorne led her to a nearby jump ship, watching as the guardian clambered in and began to fire up the engines. She could hear civilians behind her, settling down in the back of the ship for the flight. She wondered how many had been in a ship before, most civilians had no need to fly.    
  
“Take it easy Hollow.”

She nodded to her companion, he had settled in his favorite spot over her right shoulder. He would spin every now and then, checking on the people behind her as she eased the ship off the ground. Most ships had the same controls, a few switches reversed here and there but she had flown enough variety that it was easy for her to understand. 

She flew steadily in pace with the other ships, she could tell that a few had only flown a handful before, their ships twisting side to side and she wondered if they would be willing to listen to a few pointers she had to help them keep even. 

“Hollow! Look! Do you recognize it? That’s where we’re supposed to go!” 

She nodded to her partner, she had thought so when the large shard had crested her vision the first time. Something pulled deep inside her chest and urged her to keep flying, head straight there, see what the Traveler had in store for her.    
  
If she didn’t have a cargo full of people she probably would have, Eggshell rolled excitedly beside her and she knew he was thinking the same thing. Her hands itched on the throttle, it would only take a minute…

“That thing? They call it the Shard of the Traveler. I call it. ‘Not a place you want to go poking around.’ “

She lowered her ship into one of the landing points, slowly easing her ship until it touched the ground and flipped the switch to open the back doors allowing the civilians to spill from inside. She had forgotten that Hawthorne had linked their ships comms in case they needed to scramble due to Cabal forces. She was thankful the woman had heard her ghost, it kept her mind clear to land. 

She slid out of the pilot seat, her arms stretched above her head as she allowed the gears in her back to snap into place. She glanced around the area she had landed in, the shard loomed in the distance, smoke billowing from the piece. 

She slowly moved around the area she had arrived in. Trotting over to where Darbi stood she let Eggshell pull her helmet from her face.    
  
“Guardian!”

She nodded towards the postmaster as Eggshell popped up beside her and began chatting with the frame. She only listened partly to what they were saying, Darbi had followed another group of lightless guardians from the tower, she was unsure where Kadi was and Eggshell assured her that the other postmaster would be fine. 

They bid farewell, and she glanced around the rest of the area. Someone had installed a few Vault computers. She was thankful for that although she wasn’t sure how many items had successfully transferred with the Tower gone. Her attention was brought to the waving woman standing under a yellow canopy to her right. 

Moving up a few steps she smiled at Tyra, allowing Eggshell to wobble to life and began and begin discussions. She seemed confused, Hollow was as well, with a disconnection from the Traveler she found her own memory failing on and off. She too had the dream of the shard, it must have been a last-ditch effort by the Traveler to get help. 

She wondered if the Speaker saw visions like this all the time. He did speak for the Traveler, maybe he had learned to interpret the visions and inform his fellow guardians of what the being wished for. 

Tyra handed her a thin rope, bound in a knot and filled with the woman’s prayers. She called it the Dreamer’s Bond, and Hollow would honor her fellow guardian’s dreams and follow her vision. Sliding off her charred ceremonial bond she slid the rope over her arm, watching as Eggshell imbued it with a small portion of light, tightening the bond on her arm. 

She bid farewell to the woman, she, just like Hawthorne, spoke ill of the shard. Spinning yarns of how the shard only knew death, how even if she could go she would choose not too. 

The area was still very quiet, few civilians and few guardians wandered around. Mainly those that she had seen with Hawthorne or ones she had brought on the ship Hawthorne had gifted her. Moving through the barn she felt exhaustion creep down her spine. She could barely pay attention as the woman spoke, although with how Eggshell was spinning beside her she knew he was listening. That he would fill her in on what she wanted, or what she was saying. 

Hawthorne turned away from her and Hollow took it as her cue to turn and leave. She stumbled down the stairs. Taking a few steps out into the grass she felt her body shift as Eggshell transmatted her into her ship. 

“Alright Hollow! Shard first!” 

She nodded, her gears grinding against each other as she pressed forward and the ship took flight heading towards the fallen shard. 

Shard first. Sleep later.


	5. Chapter 5

Eggshell knew she needed to go to the shard first, that she wouldn’t be able to truly sleep with the shard that close to her. The pull from it had rattled her chest, at least now the rattle was gone. 

The void had always had a stronger pull on her than any other form of light. The dark swelling energy had found a place in her heart and she let it brew there. The purple energy moving her gears and twisting her circuits to be able to explode with light. The solar energy felt different, off in a way. The warm light twisted and wormed within her, urging her hands to take up the sword, to take flight and burn her enemies with each swing. 

She had felt almost celestial when the light-filled her, her body lifting up towards the stars. Solar light exploded from her back, wings keeping her aloft as she swung the sword. The solar energy burning at her gloves and arms as she sent wave after wave towards the fallen.

They had been right about the shard, it had been different, secluded from the Traveler for so long it’s light had warped. It was still light though, and it filled her with its blessing and allowed her to be whole once more. 

Eggshell had been thrilled, his shell bursting from his body as he healed Hollow, healed her fully. Each broken gear and frayed wire became new, her hands once more filled with digits. She was whole again. 

She stumbled from her ship, even with the Traveler’s light now flowing through her veins exhaustion crept at her circuits. Exo’s could go longer without sleep but they still needed sleep. Besides her two days out of commission, she hadn’t slept since she left the Last City. 

She blinked slowly, pulling the farm into view as she watched the commotion. There were more guardians and civilians then when she had left the prior day, running back and forth she watched as each went about their own task. A rather small warlock came bounding towards her, her robes frayed at the edges and stained red. She must have come from Mars. 

Large glowing green eyes stared up at her and Hollow shifted nervously backward, she wasn’t sure why this awoken had beelined it towards her. The woman bounced softly her arms twisting behind her back as she held her hands there.    
  
“Hollow-4?”

Her throat tightened and Eggshell materialized beside her his shell spinning to gain the guardian's attention.   
  
“Yes, this is Hollow-5.” 

The woman looked back and forth between Eggshell and herself a few times before turning her attention fully towards the ghost. 

“Hawthorne told me to come and find you for…"

She snapped her head towards the Exo, her eyes narrowing as her body stiffened. Hollow tilted her head in confusion, trying to figure out what had caused the woman to stop speaking. Her arms unfurled from behind her back as a pale blue hand rested itself on Hollow’s chest. 

“You...you have your light…”

Hollow kept still, allowing her fellow warlock to feel the Traveler’s light swirling beneath her skin. 

“Yes. Our light has returned. What was it Hawthorne wanted?”

The girl’s hand fell from Hollow’s chest to fall limply by her side. She shook her head a few times before turning waving for the Exo to follow her. 

“Oh, yeah, she wanted me to show you to your tent. She’s got one saved for you, uh, this way!"

The woman trotted away, leading Hollow through the farm and to the far side where it seemed they had already set up a soccer field. She smiled at the guardians kicking the ball back and forth as they hurried through the playing field and through the fence there and into another large field. 

She could see Red Jacks at the far end, no doubt sentries posted there to prevent any Cabal from getting the drop on them. She followed the other girl to the right of the field, away from where the other tents had sprung up to where there was only a handful of them. She wondered why she had been placed on this half but didn’t really mind. If this guardian had been able to feel her light then no doubt other guardians would. 

“Yongpum.”

Hollow paused to turn her attention away from the tent they had stopped in front of and towards the girl. She let out a bout of laughter, the blue shelled ghost finally emerging from the top of the woman’s robes. 

“It’s what was written on the boxes that Chingu found me under.” 

She shrugged and Hollow watched as the little ghost slid back into Yongpum’s robes. It was odd to see the difference in ghosts, her own was loud and willing to speak for her while this one was shy, nearly unable to peek out of it’s hiding space. 

“It’s nice to meet you Yongpum, Chingu.”

Speaking of her ghost, Eggshell emerged on her shoulder, spinning as he bid farewell to the others and they silently watched as they walked away back towards the farm. Finally alone with a place to rest she bent over, moving within her tent and spreading herself out on the bedroll. Eggshell quickly removed her bond, robes, boots, and helmet, leaving her in her nothing other than her metal skeleton. 

She extended her hand allowing Eggshell to nestle into the soft rubber there before curling him in towards her chest and once he was there she quickly fell asleep. 

She awoke slowly, her vision slowly piecing together in the darkness. Eggshell stirred beside her, his bits extending away from his core and illuminating her tent with the Traveler’s light. 

“I’m sorry Hollow, I should have let you rest first.”

She tilted her head down to her small companion, pressing her forehead against his shell. She knew she didn’t need to say anything, Eggshell knew she didn’t blame him, not in the slightest. It was what needed to be done. 

“You’ve slept for two days. There was a lot of commotion yesterday, we should check in with Hawthorne.”

She groaned, releasing Eggshell so she could turn and sit up fully. New robes wrapped themselves around her body, clean boots covered her feet. It was the gear she had found while receiving the Traveler’s blessing. She waved off her helmet and he kept it wherever he kept her gear, with that she slid out of her tent. 

The cold air stung her sensors and she inhaled deeply, the smell of the wilds filled her mind, grass, the lake, the smell of the chickens that ran around the area. It was so different than the metal and floral scent of the tower. The mechanical scent of gun oil and jump ships, sparrows and weapons. She enjoyed the smell of the farm, it was clean. 

She moved towards the farm, there were only a few guardians out and about, no doubt the ones on patrol. Only one seemed to stop for a moment to stare at her, she wondered if it was because he hadn’t seen her before or if he too could feel the light within her. 

“What are you doing!?  _ Get back in there!” _

Hollow froze, the gears in her body grinding to a halt. She could feel the speaker in her throat sputtering with some noise she was unsure of. Most likely the crack of static as her brain tried to make sense of something. Despite her gears unwillingness to turn her feet had begun to move, feet shuffling across the grass to cut a path towards the barn. 

It was quiet beside his shouting, she wondered who in the system he would be shouting at. Had the crucible come back? How? Guardians were still lightless?

In a pause between shouts, she could hear her feet thumping against the wooden floor of the barn, the beams creaking under her weight. The crucible handler glanced at her only for a moment before returning to his screens. She wondered if she really was that unrecognizable, but the thoughts were chased away as his fists slammed against the table and he turned to look at her once again. 

“Guardian!?” 

He took a wide step towards her, large hands resting on her shoulders as he shook her gently. He towered over her, forcing her to crane her neck upwards to stare at his hidden face. 

“You’ve found your light!?”

She nodded, her speakers crackling with noise before Eggshell appeared on her shoulder filling the handler in on what had transpired after they parted in the Tower. He assured her that all the civilians that had been with him had escaped safely. They had found a rendezvous point a few days later where a guardian had greeted them. They waited a few more days there before the ships arrived, they had reached the farm yesterday, when she had been at the shard. 

He went on about the crucible then. How he had set up the arenas with the help of his Red Jacks as security to keep guardians from losing their edge. 

“Lord Shaxx... they're lightless…”

He let out a triumphant light before resting his hand on her back guiding her to the screens behind him. She felt the heat burn at her neck and face as she stood beside the man, her eyes moving over the screens to keep them from staring at him. 

Narrowing her eyes she scooted closer to the table, bending over the wood to get a closer look at one of the lower screens. They were still holding guns, albeit rather odd-looking, still dodging and jumping around the arena. It was comical to watch how slow a hunter would roll away without the boost of speed form the Traveler. 

“Is that paint?”

A hand slapped itself on her back and she flinched down a few inches from the impact. Even lightless the titan was strong. 

“Ah little ghost, still as smart as ever I see!” 

Eggshell whirled at the praise. 

“That's clever..."

She stood straight before turning to face Shaxx, heat burning the metal plates on her face at the proximity she was to the titan. His hands rested at his hips as he stared down at her. 

“So you speak again! I admit I don’t get surprised easily but I never expected to hear your voice. Always quiet as a mouse.”

Her hands left the table behind her to rest on her lap as she tilted backward, resting her body against the table she could see the reflection of her mouth lights flickering against his armor in the dark. 

“Quiet again are you? Is it choice? Or mechanics?”

His hand left his hip and she felt her body freeze as his fingers pressed against her throat. He tilted her head up as if he could see through the rubber there and into her internal mechanisms. 

“It’s uh..well...”

Her voice broke through crackling and static filled. Warped and wavering as she tried to figure out what to say. His other hand joined it’s pair as he prodded at the rubber seal around her neck. 

“I’m not too versed in Exo mechanics, shouldn’t your ghost be able to fix this?”

“Eggshell...he uh…”

A loud rumble of laughter tore from his mouth as his hands continued working on her throat, no doubt trying to narrow down where the speaker vibration was coming from when she was finally able to murmur out a few words. 

“He can but...it’s not..urk-”

His thumb pressed against her speaker, the soft pressure muting the Exo and forcing an electric hiss to escape the machinery. His hands quickly withdrew from her throat and retreated back to his side as he took a step back from her. Eggshell quickly flourished to life in front of her, the bot spinning fiestly. 

“Lord Shaxx I ask you to refrain from harming my Guardian again.”

His laughter diffused the air as he shook his head. 

“Ah, little friend you’ve mistaken my actions. I mean your Guardian no harm. I only wished to help.”

Eggshell sat in front of her still, never leaving his station in front of his companion. Hollow’s hand came up to cradle her friend and bring him back to his post on her shoulder. 

“It’s alright.” 

Eggshell gave one last defiant ‘harumph’ as he spun his shell lazily in Shaxx’s direction. The crucible handler stepped to the side allowing Hollow to skitter past him and back into the emptiness of the barn.

“Hollow can speak, it hurts her to do so.” 

Shame flooded her face as she lowered her gaze away from the male across from her. 

“We don’t think she was built to speak originally. She’s an older model.”

Her friend sighed as he continued to speak, she didn’t mind that Shaxx knew all this, besides the Vanguard and her fireteam he was the only one to know this though. There was no reason for others to know.

“Her speaker is relatively new, we just keep trying new ones to see if we can find one that won’t make her throat feel like it’s filled with electricity.”

They fell into silence, her hands gripping the soft fabric of her gray robes. Shaxx cleared his throat and she lifted her view bringing him into sight. 

“Guardi-...”

He shifted his weight before shaking his head, starting over. 

“Hollow. Your voice does not make you a powerful Guardian. Your actions do...and your actions? Are the loudest the Tower, this farm...has heard in decades. You are the Godslayer, an Iron Lord, Hivesbane, the Kingslayer and soon, the Cagebreaker...you will free the Traveler.”

A gear in her chest snapped, she could feel the brittle metals crushing against each other. With each of her names, Shaxx listed the exhaustion from the prior days crept into her body. There was so much pressure, so many people relying on her, the only guardian with the Traveler’s blessing. The Chosen One...once more. 

She took a step back from Shaxx and he tilted his head in confusion at her acts. Eggshell whirred to life, chattering away thanks towards the titan. Her hands curled into tight fists, shaking silently by her side. She could hear the metal creaking in her fingers. 

“Ah, I see the Guardian’s awake. Join me up top won’t you?”

She jumped, turning her attention towards Hawthorne as the quiet woman slipped up the stairs towards her normal perch. Nodding towards Shaxx she watched as he turned away from her and towards the monitors. 

She headed up the stairs to follow Hawthorne and listened as the woman spoke of someone named Devrim. How she was to go find him and help set up a comm relay. She didn’t mind, not really, a comm system would help any guardians or civilians out in the wild find their way to the farm. 

She bid the woman and her falcon companion a farewell and in the early morning light, she headed towards the EDZ. 


	6. Chapter 6

Being swarmed by Fallen, well by anything, wasn’t fun, but Fallen? She grunted as the butt of her pistol found one of their faces. She hated the skittery assholes. It wasn’t like they were tough or anything, not in comparison to the other races, they were just so jumpy. She would be constantly spinning trying to follow a Dreg as it ran around her in circles, not firing, not attacking just being a nuisance. She honestly did feel bad when she killed those ones, it’s not like they were attacking her but it was their own fault for not leaving her the hell alone. 

She grumbled as she moved through the mines heading towards the destination that Hawthorne and Devrim had given her. Honestly this whole trip had been a ‘go here do this for me’ mission but she couldn’t complain. If her running around planting beacons helped others she would do it. 

Pressing the heel of her palm against her forehead she sighed, she would have to buy a new helmet before she went anywhere else. The damn Fallen had distracted her enough for a grenade to blow her old one clean off her head...with her head still inside. 

She lowered her hand from her head to rub at the joints on her neck. Honestly? Dying wasn’t fun, no surprise there. She knew some guardians didn’t remember their deaths. A sharp pain then their ghosts would be waking them back up. She wasn’t sure if it was all Exo’s or just a select few guardians that would vividly remember their deaths. The pain searing through her body as the grenade detonated. The heat singing her robes and burning the metal plating underneath. The force of the blast forcing the rubber seals on her neck to tear, the pain as oil and hydro splattered onto the front of her robes, hoses ripping in half. The electric surge forced through her body as her head disconnected. 

Then she was awake, Eggshell had simply stitched her back together with whatever power the Traveler had given him to do so. It was jarring, a little bit of her memory storing her death for later, to learn from. Ignore the runny bastards and focus on the giant flashing symbol on her HUD first. 

Yeah...she should have known better. Eggshell could fix her robes, that was easy enough, although she only allowed him to fix the sleeves. The hem would stay burnt, a lesson for her to remember. Her helmet though had been shattered and she was sure he could fix it but it wasn’t worth the effort. She wanted nothing more than to get back to the farm and sleep for another 3 days. She had been going non stop since she arrived here, Devrim didn’t really give her an option. Something about how ‘Guardians already need less sleep, plus your an Exo! You can function for one more run, yeah?’

One more run, every time she would report in, just one more run. Sure Guardians didn’t need as much sleep as civilians and exos even less, but that was during peacetime. Or as close to peace as they had before the Cabal showed up. Sure when she was only running patrols and the odd lost sector she could easily go a week without sleeping. She wasn’t just sparrow racing with friends though. 

She was on her own, against all odds. Everyone was watching her and because it was  _ her _ they all knew she wouldn’t fail. The pressure of that alone weighed her gears down. With the Last City in flames all sorts of enemies were coming out of the woodwork. What was one random Vandal encounter turned into 6 Fallen aggressively trying to extinguish her light for good. 

_ Oh and her light! _ She stared at her hands as she stood in the elevator. She could hear the skittering of Fallen just around the corner. She was almost done, just a few more to go, but her light.  _ Her fucked up light. _

Flames burst from her hands, licking at her gloves and moving upwards to consume her forearms and elbows in the glowing light. It burnt, unlike the cold emptiness of void light, solar  _ burnt. _ The sensors in her hands stung as the weight of her light took shape, a large sword formed between her hands and the burn of solar light took over her body. 

She lunged forward out of the elevator and jumped, her light already lifting her high off the ground. The solar light burst from her back, dripping wings forming behind her to keep her aloft as she lifted the sword above her head and hurled it towards the ground. Blade after blade left her hand as she moved down the path. Sure there weren’t very many enemies but when the light inside her filled it was like trying to walk with a cup filled to the brim. 

Once depleted the light left her exhausted, the burns on her body were easily healed by Eggshell and it was as if the solar energy had never consumed her soul. She stared down the pathway, she could see Hawthorne and Lewis down under a covering. She didn’t dislike the woman, although she didn’t necessarily like her either. It just seemed that she had some sort of animosity towards Guardians and that put Hollow on edge. 

She handed Hawthorne the drive she had been asked to deliver and stayed silent as she spoke. She wasn’t sure why Hawthorne had bet  _ against _ her but it drove another nail in the uneasiness coffin Hollow felt around her. She watched as the woman worked away on the signal, her interest only returning when Zavala’s voice cut through. He sounded worn, as if he didn’t know where else to turn but to put out the signal. 

Eggshell twirled, her excitement coming through in his actions as he began to ramble. If Zavala was alive, if he was calling for guardians she had to go. If she could help, even to prevent a single lightless guardian from perishing she had to. 

“You are  _ not _ going to Titan.”

Eggshell fell silent and she turned away from her partner to glare at the woman. Had she not heard the same transmission? Zavala was calling for assistance, how could they not?

“We’ve got refugees coming in, the Red Legion on one side, the Fallen on the other-”

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand Hawthorne’s concerns. She knew that having a light endowed guardian around would be better for the farm. That it would help ease the battles that they would no doubt have to face. The only issue was that she wasn’t the only guardian, sure their light gave them their powers but they still knew how to fight. Hell she fought the Fallen and survived to regain her light. Shaxx was at the farm, he alone would make a massive difference in any battles. 

“But we have our powers back! And if we’re going to retake the city-”

_ **“Your city is GONE!” ** _

She took a step back from the woman, Eggshell following her lead to put distance between them. She was right, the city was gone, but it could be reclaimed. How could she sit by and watch as the Cabal continued to raze the city? To find anyone still alive, hidden in the rubble and eliminate them as well? It wasn’t like they were going to take the city and leave, they would expand, they would make their way to the farm eventually and then all would be lost. 

Anger welled inside the warlock as she thought of the Traveler. Their omnipotent friend, trapped in a cage as the Cabal worked on doing whatever they wanted to it. How could she turn a blind eye? How could she give up on the being that brought Eggshell into her life? How could she sleep at night if she ignored Zavala’s call? 

“Hawthorne…”

The woman turned away from the pair before grabbing her sniper rifle and shoving between them. 

“We’ll be back, and we won’t be alone.”

Without pausing her stride or glancing back at the pair she walked away, simply calling out as she went. 

“You’ll know where to find me.”

Hollow glanced at her partner as they watched the woman storm off, no doubt back to the farm. To tell them how Hollow had abandoned them and left them to face the hoards on their own. She hoped they would know her better, know the woman that saved them from so many threats before wouldn’t just leave them to die. This was the best chance they had at regaining the city, plus if she could bring Zavala back...it would give even more hope to the guardians sulking around the farm. Or if not hope Zavala would kick their asses back into gear.

She took a few calming breaths before turning towards her partner and nodding. With a silent twirl of his shell he transmatted them into her ship and she sat there for a moment. She would go to Titan, she would help Zavala, she would bring him back to the farm. Pressing forward on the throttle she launched them towards the watery world. 

Traveler help anyone who stood in her way. 

She was going to save the city.


	7. Chapter 7

The broke the atmosphere on Titan and Eggshell paused his ramblings to reach out and try to contact Zavala or whomever he had on comms. 

“Vanguard Fleet: Guardian Ship seven-two-three is on approach. We received your beacon, and we’re ready to join the fight.”

She navigated towards the large platforms, she could see areas where it had broken and she wondered what had caused it. Steering between two large buildings she flipped a few switches allowing Eggshell to take over the controls as she readied herself to be dropped off. 

“Guardian Ship, this is Zavala. It’s too late. The hive have overrun Titan. I was wrong to bring us here…”

She was placed down on one of the crooked outposts and was thankful she had transferred over a helmet from her vault. The amount of moisture in the air would be hard to deal with. That was how internal rust happened and while Eggshell could fix it, she didn’t want to deal with that unpleasantry. 

She adjusted her grip on her rifle as she jogged forward easily clearing the gap in front of her. She could hear Eggshell on the comms as his voice flickered into her helmet. 

“Commander, we’re here to help.”

She swallowed thickly as she listened to Zavala’s voice. Sorrow and anger laced his words and she knew he blamed himself for the guardians they had lost here. That with each life taken Zavala would add it to a list of guardians he let down by bringing them here. 

The emotions were still there as he expressed his disbelief upon Eggshell’s revelation that she had her light back. She couldn’t really blame him, he probably didn’t know about the shard lost to the wilds, he might not have received the Traveler’s call if he was already on Titan when it reached out. She wondered how long he had been here, and if Ikora and Cayde were with him here as well. 

Another voice cut into the comms, it seemed she really didn’t care who she was as long as she could help them take back the moon. Whether or not she believed Hollow about her regained light was still to be determined but they had a plan and she would help them see it through. 

She moved forward the uneasiness creeping into her spine with each platform she walked across. A queasy groan left her mouth as she watched a shipping container slide forward and off into the watery depths. Why  _ anyone _ would choose to settle here was beyond her. Just staring at the water made her cringe. 

It wasn’t like she could drown, or at least not that she’d experienced yet, but throwing a walking electrical box into water tended to end badly, or at least fully submerging her did. Not to mention the thing that lived down there. 

She nervously moved to the edge of the platforms her eyes scanning the area before she pointed out towards the large arching body of whatever lived under the water. 

_ See Eggshell! I hate this moon! _

Eggshell appeared beside her, his optics straining to scan the beast in the distance to no avail. She didn’t know what the leviathan was but there was no way she was throwing herself over the edge for a closer look at it. 

Shaking off the creeps that had grown in her spine she jumped over to the next platform, taking an extra moment to line up her feet to make sure she wouldn’t miss the steel grate. With careful glides she went off into the rig to help Sloane and Zavala regain a foothold in this watery tomb. 

Hive. Hive. Fallen. Hive. Traveler she hated this base the longer she was on it. The constant drizzle kept her robes soaked and heavy, Eggshell had tried to keep her dry but after appearing for the 5th time in 2 minutes to dry her robes she shoved him back inside and told him to stop coming out. She would just have to deal with it, there was no way she was going to complain when it would mean him appearing during a firefight. 

Much like when helping Devrim a lot of her tasks on Titan were running back and forth and making sure things got put where they needed. A beacon was stolen, Hive were disrupting an area. A Witch-ual was nearby go make sure the ritual doesn’t complete. She didn’t really mind helping Sloane and Zavala, if anything it would help the other guardians she ran past sometimes. There would be one or two crouched in doorways, backs against the wall as they watched her charge forward and into the fight. 

She wished they would listen to Zavala and fall back, let her take care of the Hive, but when a hunter pushed past her and stabbed a Dreg in the face she felt a surge of wonder and how resilient the man was. He wished her luck before sprinting back to his friends but it meant a lot to her. It kept the damn thing from getting the drop on her while she took care of his eight thousand other friends and no doubt made the hunter feel good. 

Hollow had finished another task when Zavala called her, asking her to meet them and that he would send her the nav point. Eggshell quickly set up a marker on her HUD so she wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost in the maze of containers. 

She moved up the stairs towards the ship that had no doubt brought the pair to this location. They must have been in orbit before, maybe watching her progress? Or maybe going to pick up a guardian that needed a lift? She hesitated as the strong woman started jogging towards her, had she done something wrong? No she couldn’t have the woman was grinning from ear to ear…

The woman she could only assume was Sloane nodded in her direction and ran past her and Hollow let out the breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. She had been on the wrong end of a titan shoulder charge one too many times not to get nervous when a titan was running in her direction. 

“I didn’t dare believe…”

Zavala’s voice brought her attention back to the titan vanguard. The man moving slowly towards her as she resumed her walk to meet him halfway. 

“If the light can find its way back to you, then perhaps there is hope for us all. Our numbers will continue to dwindle. We can no longer protect ourselves, much less the survivors.”

Zavala turned away from her, taking a few strides towards the edge of the platform he looked off in thought. Hollow stayed put as she watched his movements, he was always one to pace. He paused after a minute to lift his hand, his attention staring at the gloved appendage. 

“And without our light...are we even guardians anymore?”

She was thankful when Eggshell bobbed forward, calling out towards the commander. It was unusual to see him so somber, so...defeated. Pulling himself from his thoughts she watched as he turned to face her, his serious face replacing the tired one he had just worn.    
  
He began to talk of more things she needed to do for Titan before she could leave. Something about generators and wave energy? Hive? She wasn’t sure, his rapid change had left her a little dazed, she wasn’t expecting to get new orders right away. Not after the two days she had just spent sprinting around the compound. No rest for the wicked, eh?

His words of reassurance did little to her as he walked by her and towards where Sloane had run off too. Pulling her gun from behind her back she brought the weapon to sit in front of her as she trudged off. More to do more to do. 

A few witches and a thousand or so thralls later she was finally trudging back into Sloane, the woman was so happy to have Hollow there. She thanked her a few times before offering her a few pieces of gear she could choose from, something about how they were linked together and corrupted so when she opened one engram the others would break. 

She carefully lifted the engram in the middle, decrypting it and pulling the robes from within. They were stunning, intricate metal wings on the back of the robes matched the gold edging the dark fabric had. She allowed Eggshell to swap them out with her tattered robes and she embraced the surge of energy flowing through her with the equipment. She let Eggshell express her thanks to the woman who then began talking about something happening in Siren’s Watch. Oh, just one more, just one more. 

Sighing she waved goodbye to the woman to trudge back out and towards the far end of the rig, she really shouldn’t have been surprised that she had another errand for her to do. She hadn’t heard from Zavala in a bit and wondered if he was still around or if he had used the coordinated Eggshell had sent him and went to the farm. She hoped it was the later, it would be nice if he was already there, proving to the people of the farm that she hadn’t abandoned them, prove to Hawthorne that she really was helping. 

She moved through the old building, more hive to kill of course. She was amazed that the power she had turned on was actually reaching down here as well. She expected it to still be dark, that they would route power to other parts of the rig. Then again if what she turned on was suppose to power the rig maybe they had more than enough to spare for this area. It wasn’t like the Rig was large. Not anymore.

She disposed of the Knights across the room, the hard hitting bastards finally dropping so she could glide down to the lower section and see what had been causing everyone so much-

_ Of course it’s a fucking Ogre. _

Fire filled her veins and she launched herself into the air allowing the solar energy to keep her lifted as she used her dawnblade once more on the Hive. It didn’t burn as much, not anymore, her light was adapting to its cage and no longer fought against her with each use. It still felt off, she still wished for the cold embrace of the void as she gathered the energy to throw it towards her enemies but at least she could still throw something.    
  
There was also an odd joy that filled her to watch the Ogre squirm as the flames licked at its skin. As the solar energy burned it from the outside before it fell to the ground in a pile of ash. That was something the void never gave her. It simply pulled her enemies into the void to never be seen again. 

Pushing past where the Ogre had crawled up from she found herself in an elevator shaft. Floating down a few floors she made her way through the maze of chambers until the warm Hive light alerted her to head that direction. Honestly the Hive were truly stupid, had they not placed a glowing egg right at the entrance she wouldn't have known where to go. 

Crawling into a vent she moved towards the central area Sloane had advised her to go. It was a lot of falling and thrall killing but the landings were soft with a soft push of light to her feet to let her glide slowly to the floor. 

More mazes, more vents, more twists and turns until the grate she was walking on gave way and she fell through the floor. Light flooded to her feet to allow her to glide and she moved towards the platform before her, where a large glowing orb sat suspended. 

She paused for a moment to glance around the area, large windows lined the wall to the empty chamber and she briefly wondered if that was water on the other side. She took a step back as a large shadow pulled into view through the windows.    
  
_ Oh Traveler… _

Her body froze as she watched the beast wiggle it’s way past the windows, her CPU rapidly trying to process what she was seeing. It was large, larger than she could have imagined and it looked…

_ Eggshell… _

Her partner appeared beside her and his shell rapidly expanded as he took in the sight she was seeing. 

_ Is that a fucking Hive worm??I _

He was silent beside her and they watched as it continued swimming, simply ignoring the pair on the inside of the glass, was it just as cloudy outside as it was in? She prayed it was, she really didn’t want the worm to have seen her standing inside watching as it swam by. She shivered as she turned her attention back towards the orb and plucked it from it’s spot. She didn’t want to be here any longer. 

A siren blared over the speakers as Hive spilled from the sides, bullets raining down on her as she pushed forward and towards a room of…

_ Oh Cayde is gonna be so salty he missed this… _

She launched forward and into the seat of one of the tanks, Zavala’s voice cut over her comms and her previous thoughts that he was gone abandoned her. She had hoped he had left, but at least she knew he was still alive. 

She floored the gas as soon as she was in the tank and for the first time since the attack unbridled joy took over her. The thrill of simply driving over the hoards of Hive being thrown at her was exhilarating. Her throat burned as laughter filled the cockpit and ghost muted her connection so Zavala and the others wouldn’t hear her cackling like a madwoman. 

She made a point to swerve towards the enemies, watching as the flew off in different directions upon impact. Traveler she would need to get one of these to use for other missions, this was fun. Cresting the hill her laughter finally died as Holliday’s ship came into view. She was glad the pilot was alright, she was one of the best and it didn’t surprise her that she had made it out alive. 

Jumping from the tank she allowed Eggshell to transmat her and the CPU into the ship as they took off out of the Arcology building and back to where Zavala was no doubt waiting. She would be able to persuade him to go to the farm now. Sure there were a few more things to do on Titan but nothing was critical anymore. Their systems were up and running and they had power back. The main foot holds had been wiped out and the remaining guardians would be able to help pick off the stragglers. 

Eggshell clanked against her head to bring her attention back to the conversation Sloane and Zavala were having. She heard bits about the Almighty, the decimation of their solar system, it was even more of a reason to take down Ghaul. To end the threat against not only their planet but the whole of the system. 

A renewed vigor filled Zavala at the news, it made the matter more pressing. They could no longer wait and plan, they need to act and quickly. At the mention of his fireteam Hollow nodded towards the commander. She knew he would expect her help in finding and returning them to the farm just as she had done with him. Zavala was a power house but without Ikora’s wisdom and Cayde’s improvisation they’re attack against Ghaul would fail. 

Sloane left the conversation allowing a moment between the Vanguard commander and the guardian. He spoke softly towards Eggshell and he in return followed his lead. They spoke of a signal being boosted somehow from Nessus, that it had come from Sundance and that most likely meant Cayde was somewhere nearby. 

He agreed to return to the farm, allowing her to make the decision if she would head straight to Nessus or back with him to refill her supplies. Her uncertainty didn’t bother Zavala and he waved her goodbye before entering his jumpship and headed off towards Earth. He wouldn’t tell her what to do, she knew what was needed but she also knew her own limits. He knew she would head to retrieve Cayde, either first or after a pit stop. 

She was alone, and her speaker crackled to life as she tried to pull words to express her fear. To express the anxiety building within her. She wanted nothing more than to head to the Farm first, to rest for a night at least and refill her supplies...but if the signal was coming from Sundance and not the Hunter Vanguard himself then he might be in trouble...and if she waited. 

Groaning she turned towards Eggshell who nodded and took them both to her ship. She tapped away silently on the console pulling up the signal from Nessus and plotting the destination. Slipping out of her seat she allowed Eggshell to hover in her place as she moved to the back to lie down for the few hours she would have between transitions. 

Cayde first. Farm later. 


	8. Chapter 8

Eggshell was talking again, not that she minded but he did talk a lot. He filled the time between planets with retelling her what Zavala and Sloane had been discussing on Titan. About the Almighty and what they planned to do with the Sun. Honestly, she figured he was talking just to keep her awake. Her head bobbing as she flew, knowing that Eggshell was partly in control of the ship to keep her from careening in the wrong direction. 

She busied herself with cleaning her guns, making sure they were calibrated correctly and the right mods were installed. 

“Let’s get to high ground so I can pin down Cayde’s location.”

She nodded to her friend as she snapped her helmet in place and allowed him to transmat her to where he had spotted. Nessus was not what she was expecting and with her partner's words she knew he was expecting it either. It wasn’t supposed to have this much life. 

She was placed atop a large tower, her vision filling with the red trees and teal skies that stretched over the Centaur. The Vex had been busy here, whether it was their work or the Traveler’s the Centaur was brimming with life. She stepped forward into the gravity well allowing it to take her down to the lower platforms.

Eggshell had received another transmission from Cayde. Something about a failsafe, transport and trap, typical Cayde, she wasn’t sure why she didn’t expect her fellow Exo to be in some sort of situation. 

The ship was pretty noticeable, the large metal beast protruding from the side of a wall. Boosting whatever signal Cayde was putting out. 

“Hello, are you here to rescue the Cayde-6?” 

She swiveled, trying to see if the voice was coming from someone nearby if she could see someone in the distance watching her. Eggshell voiced her concerns on the non-Cayde voice. 

“The Cayde-6 is currently caught in a teleportation loop. He’s over there. Oop! Now he’s over THERE! Oop!”

“He’s moving? Well, that’s...complicated…”

She groaned, the static crackling from her throat. She didn’t know why she expected this to be easy, her exhaustion was starting to get the best of her and her tolerance was running low. She really wished Cayde hadn’t gone off and done whatever he had done to trap himself. 

Why couldn’t this have been a simple, land, yell and Cayde, back to the farm for a much-needed rest? At this point running on three weeks without sleep. The back and forth missions she was given on each planet helped keep her moving, kept her occupied so she really didn’t have time to focus on how tired she was. 

The trees were blurring together now though, the red swirling together to form a solid canopy above her, blending in with the red sand beneath her. She shook her head trying to clear her sensors. She had to stay awake, she had to save Cayde. If he was transporting there was no way to say where he would end up next. 

“I can help you!  
_ But I’m gonna be super unpleasant about it.”_

Eggshell jumped to life as the second voice entered the comms. 

“I’m sorry - What?”

“I have uploaded his new coordinated to you  
_ Against my better judgment.”_

“uh...Ok…?”

She was just as confused as her partner was, the friendly voice made no mention of the sour one, whether she could hear the other voice or not was a mystery. She spun on her heel heading towards the destination that Eggshell had marked on her HUD. She knew she would have to move fast. 

“Can I help you with anything else?

The voice caught her off guard, she had been moving for less than 30 seconds before the voice chimed in again. 

“Yeah...are you okay? You sound a little...off?”

“I am the Exodus Black’s failsafe. Call me Failsafe! I boosted the Cayde-6’s signal in hopes he would be rescued. And Look! Here you are!”

She continued moving as Failsafe spoke to her, it made sense now to what the other voice was. No doubt another part of the Failsafe.   
  
“Oh, I see! She’s just an AI. A malfunctioning AI.”

“_ I heard that…  
_At your service!”

Eggshell and Failsafe began another discussion about the Centaur, how the Vex had stepped in and began filling it with life. Dropping down a rather large hole in the ground she continued moving towards the marker. Vex machinery was mixed into the foliage and honestly, she found this to be one of her new favorite places. 

“Cayde!”

Eggshell’s exclamation brought her out of her thoughts and towards the large white trap holding the Hunter Vanguard. Oh, Traveler, he looked stupid. 

“Someone there? Listen don’t ask me how this happened - I don’t have time to explain what I don’t have time to understand!”

Yep. Stupid.  
  
She watched as he vanished and she spun around trying to see if he had transported to another part of the room. Lights filled the area as Vex began to spawn in and a friendly warning from Failsafe filled her comms. 

She liked Failsafe. Laughing softly at the strange AI she shouldered her rifle and made quick work of the Vex, she wondered why they didn’t cover their giant glowing weak points. Just a piece of armor over it would keep them much safer. 

Whatever, it made killing them much easier if they were going to walk straight towards her weak points exposed. She ended up taking more damage than she would have liked. The Minotaur hitting her heavier than their Goblin counterparts. She knew she only had herself to blame, her exhaustion was causing the lights to blur together and force her to be reckless. Punching a fully shielded Minotaur wasn’t a good idea...not for a Warlock at least. 

Moving to leave the tunnels Failsafe filled her in on what had happened to Cayde, the sassy remark about how he ‘wasn’t that smart’ had her chuckling. Alright so it wasn’t just her that thought the Hunter wasn’t the brightest. 

The AI marked another point for her to follow and Eggshell added it once again to her HUD. Following the blinking mark, she found more Vex materializing before her. 

Solar energy burned her hands as a bundle of light twisted itself to life in her palm. Tossing the light away from her she watched the orange streak as it slid across the sky before landing in an explosive splatter. The Vex it touched burst into flames and she couldn’t help but smile as they crumbled to ashes. 

She quickly swapped to a shotgun as she made quick work of the Hobgoblins in front of her, their solar shields burning her from standing too close, but not enough to break through her shields. 

Another Minotaur spawned and she jumped backward to hide behind a rock. She really hated the shielded bastards, the void bullets bit her and tore through her shields easily. She was still too weak and exhausted to deal with them properly. 

When the last Vex fell Failsafe chimed in. Something about how she was better than the AI’s last crew, how her Captain was ‘super dead’. She felt bad for the AI stuck on the Centaur for who knows how long. She would have to make sure to come back here to talk with her more often. 

She moved through the Vex teleporter on Failsafe’s orders. She wasn’t sure why she trusted the AI so much but she did, and it ended up working as she warped through to the other side and found another gravity well. 

Dropping down she stared around the area, finding Cayde floating above them in the distance. She cursed as the Hydra appeared and Cayde’s voice filled the chamber as he cheered her on, or she would assume he cheered her on in his own strange ‘do better’ kind of way. 

Her cup was full, the solar energy bubbling inside of her stretched up towards her neck, flames sprouted from her hand and back as she took flight, the sword while still unnatural felt much better in her hand as she flung it towards the Hydra and the Vex spilling into the area. She wanted this fight over as quickly as possible, she was starting to shake. 

Dropping from her super she quickly pulled her gun from its holster as she swapped back and forth between shooting the giant shielded Vex and its minions that shot at her from around the arena. She had to tune Cayde out, thankful that he wasn’t in her comms, his shouting was distracting her. 

Her vision darkened on the edges as the Minotaur launched attack after attack at her, twisting her attention towards the hard hitter she unloaded a magazine on him watching as he finally dropped. Forcing light beneath her feet she launched onto one of the platforms, allowing her to shoot over the Hydra’s shields and finally taking it down. 

The Hydra exploded in an array of colors and she watched as the other Vex transported themselves out of the arena. She was thankful for that, she really didn’t have the strength to keep fighting. 

Moving over to where Cayde ...sat? Floated? Wherever Cayde was she listened to him ramble. Despair filled her body as he spoke of taking out the main power source, she was so hopeful that when she killed the Hydra it would drop whatever Cayde was stuck in. Ghost responded for her and they watched as he blipped away. 

“I’m guessing this is why they don’t like Cayde leaving the Tower.”

She nodded towards Eggshell before setting herself onto a low edge nearby. Holstering her gun, she took a few calming breaths. Her hands were trembling as she stared at them, the lines on her fingers blurring to match the foggy surroundings. 

“Hollow…”

Eggshell plonked against her helmet and she allowed him to remove the armor piece from her head. Sucking in air she exhaled it loudly before turning her attention away from her hands and towards her companion. 

“Eggs-hell...I’m t-ired.”

Sparks blew from her neck as she spoke and he allowed the Travelers light to leave him and repair the rubber the hot electricity had singed on its way out. 

“I know...just a little more okay?”

He pressed himself against her forehead and she closed her eyes pressing back against his spikey body. Just one more….just one more. 

Groaning she stood to her feet, her knees wobbling as she did so as her helmet found itself wrapping around her head once more. Her body lost all weight as Eggshell transmatted her back to her ship, it would be easier to drop her back near the coordinates Failsafe had been able to give them of the power source than have her walk all the way there. 

She quickly reloaded her weapons on her ship before Eggshell dropped her off on Nessus once more. She was in a different point now, still amazed at the beauty of the Centaur she had little time to appreciate it as she moved towards the new nav point. 

Traveler, she hated that she was unable to call her sparrow out. It would make traversing the area so much quicker. She moved through the tunnels filled with Radiolaria, it burnt as she touched it and she made a point to walk through it. Each jolt the fluid gave her woke her up just a little bit more. Jumping up the platforms she made it further into the Vex hidey-hole before Harpy’s floated over the edge towards her. 

More slippery boys, great. Shooting them down she moved forward, it seemed like for everyone she shot another would take its place and she cursed the Vex for making them. 

Eggshell began another conversation with Failsafe, as short as it was with Failsafe’s unwillingness to tell them why Cayde was here. Another warning from the cheery AI and she cursed killing the Vex as they spawned in. Why were there so many here, wouldn’t they want her to take Cayde out of whatever he was stuck in? So she could take him away from this planet? Stupid dumb robots. 

She threw her hand out to the side allowing the light to fill around her in a warm circle, filling her with energy and healing the wounds from the bullets the Vex were littering her with. She didn’t mind being shot, not right now anyway, each bullet mimicked the Vex fluid from before and woke her up just a little more. If she could just free Cayde whatever tasks Failsafe would have for her could wait. She could sleep for a thousand years then. 

Finally downing the last Vex she moved further into the tunnels towards where the power source was. Picking up the device before her Cayde’s voice filled her comms and she groaned at the loud cackling. She was thankful that Cayde was out but she had forgotten how loud he was. 

Moving out of the tunnels she let a sigh pass, she could finally go-

“Uh oh. The Fallen’s got the Vex in a tizzy, and by tizzy, I mean murderous rampage. I’ll hunker down in the Exodus Black.”

She pressed her hands against her helmet, she wanted to scream. To throw her gun off the edge and leave, to let someone else take up the mantle and save the world for once. No, Cayde still wasn’t safe so now she would have to make her way to the Exodus Black and save him _again before_ she could force him back to the Farm. 

“That is a _ really _ big Vex.”

She groaned at her partner’s obvious statement before unholstering her gun once more for _just one more. _

It was slightly surprising for her to find Fallen here, although they were scavengers and the Vex did like to make a lot of things. She was thankful that the two were hellbent on fighting each other. If they could even take out a few things then she would have less to deal with, forget ‘missing out on the fun.’

She continued moving towards the ship, working on the Gate Lord blocking the area forward. A barrier from the Vex keeping her out. Rage filled her as she downed the giant Vex watching as the shield fell and she could ignore the rest to move towards Cayde’s location. 

Her gloves tightened around her gun as Cayde told her to hurry, she had been hurrying for the last three weeks. Nonstop running as she tried to save the City, to save the Vanguard. She wished she could cry, wished she could vent her frustration that way. To just crawl under a part of the ship and just cry for an hour before saving Cayde. But no, she had to hurry forward and save Cayde from the Fallen. 

Her rage fueled her forward as she took care of the few Dregs that rushed her, a Captain warped as she got near and she knew she hadn’t seen the last of him. Shanks rushed her and she shot them down easily, they weren’t a problem, the Captain with the scorch cannon that had re-appeared though...he was a problem. 

She chipped away at his shield, watching as he stumbled every now and again from a well-placed headshot. If she wasn’t so tired, so absolutely drained she would summon her sword, but her exhaustion made it hard for the solar light to fill her. 

The captain warped again to the far side of the field and she groaned before trudging through the shallow water over to where he was. Why couldn’t he just stay still and fight her, why did it always have to be a game of cat and mouse with the Fallen?

The flames tingled her hands but never consumed them, she could feel the solar energy bubbling beneath her skin but true to earlier she was just too tired to lift the sword. She could barely hold her gun right now. 

She moved around the shipping crates, popping out to keep chipping away at the captain and bobbing back behind to avoid his shots. 

Finally, _finally,_ after chasing him around the area she watched as he dropped his scorch cannon the only thing left behind. If she was more awake she probably would have been giddy, the cannon made quick work of the fallen that dared to approach her and with Failsafe’s declaration that she was a new Captain she threw the cannon and moved inside the ship. 

Sundance was the first thing she saw, the little red and white ghost bobbing above where she could only assume Cayde was hiding. She watched a hand pop up to force the ghost down and she lifted the vex teleporter to shake it at Cayde as he appeared from behind his hiding place. 

“So It’s true...the Light found its way back to you. Not that I’m jealous or nothin’, but take it easy out there, will ya? You’re making me look bad.”

Oh Traveler, if she had _any more_ energy she would have thrown the damn teleporter straight at his face. Take it easy? _ Take it easy!? _ As soon as the teleporter left her hands her hands tightened into fists. She could hear the metal groaning from the force she was squeezing with. 

Eggshell spoke for her of course, asking Cayde what he was doing, why he was here. She was thankful for once that she couldn’t speak, she would have such different words for him. She wouldn’t be as nice as Eggshell was being, even if he was being more aggressive than normal.

Cayde’s interest grew as Eggshell spoke of Zavala, it seemed the selfish Hunter had his pride filled with hearing that Zavala had said he needed him. There had always been something that rubbed her the wrong way with the Exo. Sure she thought he was funny but this...this was just frustrating. He was off doing his own thing and left his fireteam and the others behind. 

He spoke of Ikora, and how she would be on Io looking for answers. At least it would give them a lead on where to look for her, even if she wasn’t there. She watched as he walked by her and twisted her head as he stopped. 

“Hey um...Thanks. I owe you one.”

With that Cayde left and Hollow felt her anger leave with him. Cayde was stupid and brash, but she was unfair to call him selfish. He was no doubt scared, lightless and in a panic, he came to find Vex tech, he had even said he planned to stop Ghaul so it wasn’t like he had fled here to hide. She moved her hands to her head and Eggshell quickly removed her helmet allowing her to rub the top of her head. 

“Far-m”

Eggshell nodded before transmatting her to the ship and she quickly took ahold of the controls to point them back towards Earth. She wanted to get back to the farm, regardless of how exhausted she was they would have had to go back anyway, she needed more supplies. 

She looked at Eggshell who sat beside her head, helping her make adjustments in their course as she drifted slightly off. He plonked against her head and she let out a soft noise before exhaustion crept over her and she down. Sleep finally claiming her body. 


	9. Chapter 9

The farm was pretty quiet in the evenings. Although it had gotten much more lively since he had arrived, seeing as more and more guardians were arriving each day. Zavala had been a surprise to see, the Titan Vanguard arriving midday to a chorus of cheers from his fellow Titans. 

Zavala had taken refuge in the top of the barn, Shaxx had yet to see the Awoken move...although he himself had rarely left his post. A few 20 minutes naps in between matches but he assumed that sleep alluded his friend, just as it did for him. 

He hadn’t seen the guardian in a few weeks, so Zavala’s return was a breath of fresh air for the Farm. Hawthorne had returned from the EDZ alone, speaking of how the guardian had left them for Titan. How she had turned her back on the farm. Of course, Shaxx knew better, this was _the_ _guardian_ after all. The guardian who refused to run from Crota, and took down Oryx when he arrived for revenge. This is the guardian who charged in to raid the Vault of Glass without hesitating. 

The guardian who took the mantle of the Iron Wolves, and wore the heavy burden that came with the title. So for anyone to believe that she had abandoned them, well they didn’t believe it for long. Shaxx was vocal about his thoughts and he could tell it upset the Farm handler, not that he minded, but he wouldn’t have the guardians who had no doubt only heard of her tales believe that she would desert them. 

Life moved on at the farm, despite the beliefs that they would be overrun at any moment, the Fallen kept their distance and the Cabal had yet to spot them. They had guardians on patrol and teams were constantly moving in and out to help any survivors that made it to rendezvous points. 

His crucible matches continued, the guardians still lived for the thrill of the fight and he was proud to be able to keep their skills sharp even while lightless. Once the guardian returned and freed the Traveler these guardians would regain their light, which would mean patrols into enemy territories and cleanup of the Cabal. They had to keep their minds and skills sharp. 

Cayde’s return wasn’t as surprising as the return of Zavala. The Titan had made it clear that when he had left the desolate watery planet that the guardian was off to save the Hunter Vanguard. A little worse for wear but following his fireteam members lead the Exo retreated into the top levels of the barn. 

Hunters swarmed to him, pleased to have him back, their cheery leader, even other classes stopped by to grab his maps and chat with him. Ask him about his ‘trip away from the tower’. The slow build of morale around the camp was a pleasant change to see. 

Two days had passed since Cayde’s return, the Exo rubbing his horn and mumbling about the Fallen. Cayde, Zavala and he had met briefly upon his return and he had informed them that he had spread the information about Ikora’s refuge on Io to the guardian. Although the Hunter wasn’t as sure as Zavala had been about her next plans. 

He was conflicted on how to feel about the guardian, she had been gone for close to four weeks now with the return of Cayde. He knew he would push himself until he dropped but the guardian was different. Even during the days she spent hunting down Oryx or Crota he had seen her between missions visiting the tower. Always stopping for a match or two of the Crucible before retreating back to the mission for a few days. 

So here he stood, in front of the monitors he had set up in his corner of the barn to oversee Crucible matches. He had called one a few moments ago and there currently was no one queued for another match. A rare occasion but it allowed him a moment to breathe and allow his Red Jacks to sweep the surrounding area for any encroaching threats. Sure they had yet to be spotted by the Cabal but he needed to be careful, there was no reason to send guardians to a Crucible arena that would be swarmed with enemies. Not while they were lightless. 

He could hear the sound of a jumpship humming in the distance before a loud clatter as it landed. It was odd for them to arrive this late in the evening but evacuating them was a top priority and using the darkness of night was a good way to go unseen. The not so graceful landing meant it probably was an inexperienced pilot.

Stepping away from his console he moved out into the common area, he had assured the two Vanguard that he would take care of refugee duty for the evening to allow them a moment of peace and sleep. Cayde had yet to take a moment since his return and although Zavala rarely slept he was slowly easing himself to do it more often with the knowledge that the guardian knew where Ikora was and his fireteam would be whole once more. 

A small jumpship sat on the landing pad, one of its feet snapped from its hasty landing and it leaned sharply to the right. Large scorch marks tore up the side and he noticed one of the tails fins had been completely blown off. He could see the cockpit glass had shattered, smoke billowing from within, he could hear a few of the farm dwellers shouting for fire suppression, a smart thing as the smoke would give away their location.

Concern tightened his throat, if they had encountered Cabal on the way here, and hadn’t successfully shaken them off there was a chance that they had led their greatest threat at the moment straight to their haven. 

He stormed forward, he needed to know, _and now_, if he needed to take the jumpship up to shake any Cabal forces from them. The fact that the bay door hadn’t opened to allow refugees to exit was confirmation that this was a lone survivor.

He launched himself up onto the side of the ship, the steep angle it sat at making the jump easy enough for him to do lightless. Clambering forward his hands found the edge of the glass door and he pried the shattered piece up exposing the seat below. 

“ _ Hollow please!”  _

The Ghost below him bobbed back and forth over their guardian, light bursting from its eye every few seconds to bathe their guardian in it’s healing properties. In between beams of light, the small Ghost would whirl backward only to slam forward against their partner’s head. The metal plating shaking slightly to show lightless eyes and mouth. 

He had seen many guardians pass since his revival, he had lost strangers and fireteam members to the loss of light. The darkness strangling their connection to the Traveler, or a Ghost lost to a well-placed shot. 

But this...this was  _ the guardian _ the one he was so certain wouldn’t abandon him. The small Ghost spun, bathing Shaxx in its light as it’s attention focused on the Crucible handler.    
  
“Help me! Pull her out!”

Without hesitation he bent over, the small aide had already removed the belts keeping her tied to the chair. He slid his arms around the metal frame and hoisted her from inside. He nearly stumbled off the roof of her jumpship, shocked to find just how light the Exo’s frame was. Not as light as his Red Jacks but she weighed far less than her the Exo Vanguard. 

He slid off the ship allowing the refugees to spray her ship with fire suppression, smothering the smoke and hiding the trail that was billowing into the sky. 

He took her straight towards the barn, moving around the side he allowed her Ghost to open a small hatch on the side and he moved underneath the structure. Her partner moved ahead of him turning on the few lanterns that littered the area to give him enough light to place her in a pile of blankets that sat towards the back wall. 

“Uh...Lord Shaxx...what is this place?”

He glanced up briefly at the Ghost before adjusting the guardian’s body so it was more flat then bent up in odd angles.    
  
“Storage. Overflow supplies are kept here.”

Eggshell bobbed around his flashlight flickering to life as it bathed the area in a conical light.    
  
“There's...not really anything here...”

“I didn’t say there would be. It would be unwise to use as a resting place, the barn gets loud during the day, but no one will bother her here as opposed to her tent.”

His shell spun nervously around him as he continued to examine the area. With a final sweep that nothing here would hurt his Guardian, he moved over to her letting his light imbue her once more with the Traveler’s blessing. 

“She’s not offline. Not rebooting...not asleep… she’s just not there…   
_ but nothing I do wakes her up!” _

Shaxx stared down at the guardian, still unmoving and dull spread out on the blankets where he had placed her. Exo’s were still strange to him, his Red Jacks he understood, they were so much simpler than the complexity that Exo’s held. 

“She’ll come back. Tell me what happened while we wait.”

With that Shaxx lowered himself to the ground beside the frame, sending a quick message to Arcite to continue any Crucible matches he readied himself for when the guardian would awake. 

Slowly lowering its shell on top of his guardian's chest, Shaxx watched as the Ghost settled in. The peaks of his shell the perfect space to sit on the swell of metal of her chest.

“We left Nessus, she fell asleep shortly after we left - I mean I can fly - so I let her sleep.”

His inner piece swiveled in the shell he kept immobile on top of her. 

“I took it slow, I know she needed the sleep and I was worried she wouldn’t stay long when we made it to the Farm… but when we broke the atmosphere there were Cabal ships close to the farm.”

The glow from his eye ceased as he closed his optic and Shaxx waited patiently as he continued.   
  
“Their ships triggered an alarm and that woke her up, she wasn’t...she wasn’t all there… Her mouth light it wasn’t turning on and her eyes kept flickering in and out, and I didn’t know why but I couldn’t hear her and...and...”

He rose off of her then and began to bob about her body, more light leaving his body to bathe the Exo. His speech was erratic almost as if he couldn’t quite tell what was going on.

“Did you record it?”

Shaxx tapped the side of his helmet and allowed her partner to access his comms. It was common knowledge that Ghosts enjoyed recording their surroundings. Whether to help their guardian’s later or for their own amusement. Static filled his HUD for a moment before the recording began to play. 

The camera was as the Ghost moved about the cockpit, he was most likely trying to stay afloat beside his guardian. 

Hollow sat in her chair, her hands all but crushing the controls of the ship as she veered through the Cabal forces drawing their attention towards her and away from the direction of the Farm. Whether or not they knew the Farm was that way was a risk he knew she wouldn’t have taken. 

“Hollow!? We don’t have guns on this ship, we have to outrun them.  _ You need to move faster!” _

She slammed the throttle forward and began to roll her ship about to avoid the Cabal as they shot at her. They would cover quite a distance in a jumpship, especially at the speed she was going. She wasn’t able to dodge everything, the view from her Ghost slamming side to side every few moments as a Cabal blast hit her ship.

About 10 minutes later she slammed backward the whole ship careening to the side, it must have been when the tail fin was shot off. Slowing on the throttle he watched as she spun around to face the three ships that were continuing the chase. 

He was wrong to think that the Ghost had undone her belts before, he could hear the shouts of her partner through the video as she unhooked her belt and slid her rifle from its holster. Blasting into the window he watched as it shattered around her and she moved to stand on the console. 

He could only see her back now, the Ghost busy trying to keep from being knocked out and keeping the ship afloat as to not throw it’s pilot overboard. She bent down for a moment to retrieve a rocket launcher and Shaxx couldn’t help the chuckle that filled his helmet. 

Rocket after rocket left her gun, each fire forcing her body to bend backward with the recoil. Years of training easily allowing her to re-aim and fire within seconds. He would like to believe that his crucible helped with that. Firing rockets while you dodged enemy shots was tricky business. 

She traded shots with the remaining ship, her rocket finding its wing as it spun out of control and into the wilds below. Their shot finding her chest and blowing her back into her seat. White light filled the video as her Ghost quickly worked on healing her wounds and reviving her. A few seconds of light later and the image returned, a frantic side to side of the guardian’s face as she sat slumped in her seat. 

The video abruptly ended there and Shaxx slowly blinked to adjust to the darkened light underneath the barn. 

“I took control of the ship and brought us here...it wasn’t easy...not when she let the Cabal use it as target practice…” 

Falling against her body once more, Shaxx watched as the Ghost nestled against her neck it’s light dim as it waited. He sat silent as well, watching the guardian as she rested beside her companion. There was no worry that she wouldn't return, her Ghost had said it himself that she wasn’t offline. 

If she were a human he would blame it on exhaustion but he wasn’t sure if it worked the same for Exos. He knew they needed to sleep and eat and if Cayde was anything to go off of they had desired for intercourse as well. So besides their mechanical shell, they seemed human enough, so would exhaustion be the cause for her as well?

He reached forward, his fingers wrapping around her slender hand as he lifted it, her Ghost stirred for only a moment before he watched as it finally succumbed to whatever they did that resembled sleep. 

She hadn’t been wearing her helmet or gloves in the video either, whether she had shed them or her Ghost had once she had fallen asleep was unknown but it allowed Shaxx to see slightly more of the Young Wolf. 

True to her weight her frame was small, most of it bulked out by the robes she draped herself in. He wondered what her purpose had been before her revival. If what she and her Ghost believed was true and she hadn’t been built with the purpose to talk, it would have made her a rather old model, wouldn’t it? 

Exo’s were built to mimic humans so that the brain wouldn’t fry every time it realized it was no longer in a body. Or had it been some inhumane punishment? There was the old saying ‘An eye for an eye’. Had she done something to warrant a removal of her voice?

His hands felt oddly warm as they held hers, an unusual feeling and at first, he didn’t really mind it. He knew Exos to be cold, being made of metal they had unusual cooling and heating systems. Cold to touch in the winter and scorching in the sun, but they were underground, hidden from the light in the dead of night...   
  
_ Then it burnt. _

He dropped her hand, watching as it fell heavily to the floor, the noise muted as it landed on the blankets but enough to stir her Ghost with the new noise. It blinked to life as it twisted its attention between his guardian and the Crucible handler. 

Shaxx’s attention never strayed from her hands, the metal glowing as it continued to heat up before flames burst from her fingertips. Fire consumed her palms, quickly spreading up to her elbows and Shaxx jumped to his feet. 

“Oh no…”

Her Ghost was beside him, his light rapidly scanning his guardian as the flames began to lick at her feet and neck.    
  
“It’s the Traveler’s light...it’s building up too much…”

Shaxx tore his attention away from the guardian to stare at her companion. This was her light? This was the solar energy tearing through her to escape? He knew what the feeling was like to have his super filled, the ripple of arc energy under his skin, crackling to escape, but to have it burst forth like this...and when she was unconscious?

A horrific sound filled the small area, lights flooded her eyes and mouth as the metal separated and she screamed. Her wail tainted with sparks and cracks as the speaker in her throat quickly became overwhelmed. Her body seemed to lift on its own, solar light spilling from her back in wings that dripped solar pools onto the floor. 

The flames licking at her hands spiraled outwards and took the shape of a sword, once much to big for her small frame. Once fully formed she flung the sword towards the far end of the wall, and Shaxx watched in amazement as she heaved blade after blade. It was like nothing he had seen before, the light that filled her so different from the Radiance he had seen before. 

When the final blade left her hands she slowly lowered to the floor, her hands stung and her vision blurred but she had released the energy threatening to burn her up. She exhaled watching as Eggshell whizzed towards her, quickly flooding her with light she lowered her attention to her hands. No longer shaking or stinging she was grateful to have Eggshell to ease her pains. 

“Well guardian, glad you’re awake.”

She jumped, spinning to bring Lord Shaxx into view, quickly adjusting her posture she straightened out. She was unsure where she was, or how she got here. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep on her ship...but wait...was there Cabal? She slouched slightly as her hand pressed against the side of her head. Why did she feel like there had been Cabal ships…?

“Sit down guardian. You’re still far from recovered.”

She shook her head, lowering her hand in the process to bring her attention back to Shaxx.    
  
“Oh, n-no I’ll-”

“**Sit Down.**”

Her throat constricted and she skittered across the room to lower herself into the pile of blankets he was pointing towards. She wasn’t about to disobey him, not when he spoke like that. She stared up at him, the Crucible handler towering over her, his arms crossing once she finally sat down. 

“ **Good** , now. You need to rest.”

She was thankful she couldn’t blush, the small word of appraisal setting her gears on fire as she squirmed in place. There was a reason why she had consistently gone to the Crucible, she would never say it but the reason was very clearly in front of her. 

“Guardian…”

The high she received from Shaxx’s praise when she dominated in the Crucible was enough to keep her going back. The disappointment when she wasn’t doing well? Fueled her to fight so much harder in the next round. She knew she wasn’t the only one that, er, _liked _Shaxx. There were plenty of guardians that swooned over the stoic handler. 

“Guardian.”

She was far from what he needed, she was a guardian, after all, the perfect little obedient guardian. Followed orders from her Vanguard without question, went into missions that had little success because her Vanguard ordered it. Fight Crota? Yes, sir. Try Thanatology? Yes, ma’am. She was far from the independent person that she truly believed Shaxx needed. 

“ **Guardian** _ .” _

She snapped her head up towards Shaxx, it must have dropped during her thoughts and she tightened the grip her hands held on her robes. It was clear that she had missed quite a bit of information with the way he and Eggshell were staring at her. 

“Ah...uh-m…”

With wide eyes she watched as Shaxx lowered himself, his hands connecting with her shoulders and pushing her back into the pile of cloth behind her. Once done he took a step back and moved to sit beside her.    
  
“Well It’s clear with how defiant you are today and because your Ghost insists. I’ll watch over you. Now sleep.”

She snapped her attention over to where Eggshell floated lazily besides Shaxx’s head. She wasn’t sure  _ why _ she wanted to kill her partner but she sure wanted too.    
  
“Your Ghost insists that someone should watch over you in case your light gets out of control while you rest again.” 

She moved to sit up only to be met by Shaxx’s hand as he shoved her backward and into the blankets once more.    
  
“Since it would only cause unnecessary worry for others to find out about your light”

His hands connected with her shoulders again as she went to sit up again, this time refusing to remove his hands as he kept her pinned against the floor. 

“And since you refuse to  **lie still** .”

She froze under him and he slowly removed his hands as if to test to see if she would simply spring upwards again. His hands hovered for a moment over her shoulders before retreating to cross over his chest. 

“I’ll stay to make sure you get rest.  **Now ** ** _rest_ ** .”

She swallowed the lump in her throat and watched as her mouth light flickered against the darkness with the words she was trying to come up with. She really didn’t want Shaxx to waste his time here when there were other things he could be doing. So many other things that didn’t include babysitting her. She didn’t want to seem this weak in front of anyone, let alone Shaxx.

“ **Guardian. ** ** _This is my last warning before I knock you out_ ** **. Rest.”**

A mouth she didn’t realize had fallen open shut and she quickly let her eyes close hiding the bright light from the view of the Crucible handler. She lay there for a few moments before the soft warmth of Eggshell’s light washed over her and she slowly felt the grip of sleep pulling her back under once more. With one final fight to stay awake, she lost and fell asleep once more.


	10. Chapter 10

“I mean  _ yes _ we’re about the same model age but that doesn’t really mean a whole lot there bud. I mean Sundance does most of my repairs so I wouldn’t even know where to begin if her little buddy doesn’t.”

A soft burning built in her hands, the solar energy once more fighting for release, fighting to be set free from the metal skeleton it was trapped within. 

“I mean I won’t lie, I’ve slept for a few days on end before. That’s not something to really worry about, it’s not like she  _ has _ to eat or drink anything.”

The hunter extended a hand resting it on the shoulder of the Crucible Handler. 

“She’s under a lot of stress. Like, a metric fuck ton. Just thank your tight helmet she’s an Exo, she can do these stupid binges and recover pretty easily.”

Eggshell darted off her chest, flying across the room to bump into Shaxx, drawing his attention away from Cayde and towards the golden glowing Exo. 

“Okay now this? This I can’t do…”

Cayde looked away from Hollow towards the Crucible Master. His attention was glued onto the subject they had just been discussing, almost as if the Vanguard member wasn’t even there. 

“So..what exactly is this?”

Flames burst from Hollow’s hands, the solar energy crawling up her elbows before her body lifted a few inches off the blankets. Once more solar energy dripped from her body. 

“She’s overflowing with energy. It’s been this way since she went to the shard in the forest. It’s like her light’s not right for her…”

Eggshell wobbled between the two men, desperate to return to his Guardian but not willing to get caught in the crossfire if she did finally wake up this time. The flames had burst from her hands a few times while she slept but she had yet to release the sword, she had yet to wake up from it. 

Her eyes snapped open, light flooding her mouth as it parted to scream. The solar energy pooled into her hands as it hardened once more into a sword, growing in her hands as she raised them above her head and flung the sword with all her might. 

Shaxx shoved Cayde towards the steps and the pair hid behind the shelves as sword after sword was flung towards the wall where they had just been. 

“I mean, I know I’m grumpy when I wake up, BUT WHY IS SHE TRYING TO KILL US??”

Shaxx shook his head before peaking it up and over the shelving to check on the guardian. A sword sat burning in her hands, the metal joints wrapped like a skeletal vice around the handle. Solar energy dripped from her like she had been soaked in it and her head twisted rapidly, no doubt in confusion. 

Her attention rested on Shaxx and he felt the urge to stand fully to his height, moving from behind the shelf to stand in the middle of the aisle he stared at the woman. 

“Okay, what the hell is happening!?”

Cayde’s voice fell on deaf ears as Shaxx moved towards the Exo female. Her arms were shaking as she gripped the sword, the energy radiating off her hit him in waves. Her ghost was right, it wasn’t the solar energy he knew, sure he still wanted to grip it and throw it, but it burnt differently. 

He could hear Eggshell behind him, speaking softly to Cayde while still bobbing out behind cover every now and then to check on his partner. As soon as the sword was lowered he knew the little ghost would rush forwards to heal her. 

“Sh-axx?”

He took a step towards her and her grip tightened, freezing in place he lifted both his hands to show her he was unarmed. She adjusted her stance, lifting the sword over her shoulder her eyes hardening as she stared at him. 

“N-ot Sh-a-xx?”

He stood still for a moment, his hands still raised by his sides. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of her last statement but her aggressive stance was odd. The lights behind her eyes flickered in and out almost as if she was fighting her consciousness. 

“Warlock. It’s going to take a lot more than a sword to scare me. Put it down.”

The flames burst with a vivid light before the energy depleted from her body, the sword slowly dissipating from between her clenched hands. The lights behind her eyes slowly grew solid and in a whir of color her ghost collided against her chest. 

Her hands cradled the small bot close to her as she listened to him prattle on about what had happened. About how she had scared him to death, how he would ban her from doing it again. She tilted her attention up slightly away from her ghost to look towards Shaxx, his hands now crossed over his chest. His posed, mimicked by the Hunter Vanguard that stood beside him. 

“That’s my girl!” 

Cayde strode forward, his hands shooting out to grip her shoulders, 

"I mean you’re Ikora’s girl but whatever!”

At the name of her master her hands dropped to her side, Eggshell lifting himself to float beside her with the move. Ikora...she had yet to find the Warlock Vanguard, she was still out there. 

She slammed forward knocking Cayde off balance with the unexpected move. Opening up her link with Eggshell she watched as the small bot whizzed behind her to follow. 

_ ‘Get my ship ready Eggshell’ _

‘ ** _Ah...about your ship…it’s still undergoing repairs…’_ **

‘ _ Any ship then! Get approval and get it running. Now!’ _

Eggshell disappeared to wherever he kept himself hidden during their firefights. No doubt putting out the word to get a jumpship ready for her. It wasn’t going to be a hard move, as soon as the ping went out a list of Guardians were at the hand offering their own ships for her to use. So they could help her bring back Ikora and save the tower. 

“And where do you think you’re going?”

Shaxx’s arm, even lightless, was like hitting a wall. She brought her hands up from her sides to push at the appendage wrapped around her waist where the vice grip was keeping her from moving. 

“I-kora”

Shaxx’s attention shot towards the hunter, said exo twisting his attention away from the death glare to whistle idly. 

“Guardian you still need to recover. Ikora is strong she ca-”

He whipped his arm away from her fighting the urge to connect his fist with her face. Solar energy licked at her hands still glowing from the burn she had delivered to him. 

“Ligh-t-less”

Cayde hesitantly approached the two, throwing his hands up in surrender as Shaxx’s helmet shot his direction. He rested a hand lightly on the woman’s shoulder flinching as she whipped around to look at him. 

“Hollow, Zavala and Hawthorne still want to talk with you. Hell if big guy hadn’t called me down here I know I would want to talk to you too. Sure Ikora’s lightless but she’s still strong, and the smartest Warlock I know. I know you feel 100% but what about Eggshell? Does he agree?”

She was shaking, and she knew Cayde could feel it under his touch. She didn’t care who needed to talk to her, if something happened to Ikora because she was  _ sleeping? _ She would never be able to live with herself. How could she? 

** _‘I’ve secured us a ship. Do you want me to transmat you?’_ **

She clenched her jaw together, the metal grating as she did so and Cayde removed his hand from her shoulder. Shaxx took another step towards her, no doubt about to speak, to agree with the hunter and tell her that despite her worries the warlock would be okay.

**** “I-kora fir-st.”

With that Eggshell transmitted her away, setting her gently in the seat of the ship he had found she slammed back on the controls allowing the ship to lift off from the farm. With one last look down at the farm she spotted a familiar orange and white titan next to her hooded friend. Both staring up at her ship from beside the barn. 

She would deal with them later, she would deal with Ikora first. With that she pushed forward allowing the engines to burst and propel her forward towards Io. 

“Shaxx buddy...You got a handful there.”

Cayde slapped the shoulder of the confused titan before trotting away towards the roost Zavala had set up. He would have to tell his teammate that Ikora was only a few days away, maybe a week at most, depending on how long it took for Hollow to convince her to come back. 

Shaxx stood next to the entrance to the hideyhole he had spent the last three days under. True to his word he had stayed by her side to make sure she slept safely, and just like that she was awake and gone. He wasn’t sure why, but it stung.

Shaking his head he moved into the barn, shoving Arcite to the side he slammed his fist onto the microphone his voice crackling to life over the crucible arena. The poor hunter on screen jumped so high he nearly vaulted into the enemy team.    
  
He would focus on the Crucible, it was the only thing that mattered now.


	11. Chapter 11

The shard had called her before her ship had broken the atmosphere. The deep singing filled her veins and neither she nor Eggshell could ignore it’s call. They had stopped and killed the waves of fallen that had heard it’s call and when she touched the shard once more. 

Relief.

The cold grip of void energy gripped her core, exploding out in pulses down her arms and legs before it grew in her hands. Ever expanding the torment of void swirled around itself before exploding forward and bursting into multiple projectiles. Joy echoed through the area as she laughed, so pleased to have the pull of the void at the back of her mind once more, the whispers echoing around her. 

She stared at her palms as Eggshell lowered them towards Io, the swirling purple energy tickling her fingers. It felt different, but it didn’t burn, it didn’t urge to release itself like the solar energy still roaring inside of her. 

Eggshell’s pep talk was cheering her up, he was right. They would find Ikora, they would take down the Almighty, and they would end the Red Legion’s reign over the Last City. 

Ikora was easy to spot, she was standing on a cliff overlooking where the Traveler had touched down on Io. Sweeping back she allowed Eggshell to take the controls as he transmatted her behind her Vanguard leader. 

There was something about Io that Hollow loved, honestly that most Guardian’s loved. Whether it was the flow of the Traveler’s energy that still clung to the moon’s surface or the beautiful scenery Io really was wonderful. 

Io had become more special to Hollow, knowing that Ikora was alive and well and to find her here cemented her love for the moon. She wondered if the Traveler’s energy swirling around had kept her fellow warlock safe. 

“Of all the places I’ve been in all the years since my rebirth, this is where I return. The last place the Traveler touched. I came for answers. I stand here still with nothing.”

She twisted her attention away from the pit as Eggshell swirled to life beside her and began to inform Ikora of Zavala’s plan. Shaking her head Ikora cut the small ghost off. 

“What good is a resistance when you are the only one who would survive”

Hollow clenched her jaw, her fists curling at her sides. She was right, yes. There was the risk of death for anyone that followed this plan. The risk for  _ final  _ death. She stood silently as she listened to Ikora speak of Ghaul, of the Red Legion. The rage building in her voice as she spoke of the desecration they were unleashing on Io. 

“Save this place, Guardian. Do not squander this second chance.”

Ikora had turned fully back towards her now, her voice dropping all rage as she pleaded with her to protect Io. They stared at each other for a few moments before she nodded and they both turned to stare back at the pit. There were no other words needed to exchange what they both felt. Ikora was safe but Io was not, she would fight for this place as she had the other’s she had come across. 

Ikora left her after some time together, heading to her ship to watch from orbit. To help guide her until she felt the planet was safe enough for the pair to return to the farm. Turning from their meeting point she moved towards the coordinates Ikora had given her. A base, one where Cabal ships had been coming and going from since Ikora had arrived. 

She stopped dead in her tracks, her gun lowering to her side as she watched the ships leave the area, a large beam of light blooming up from the surface of the planet into a pillar towering in the sky. Ikora’s voice was distraught, despair and desperation lacing her voice as she expressed her guilt. 

“I am more than just my Light! I could have tried! I should have tried…”

Hollow moved forward as Ikora continued to speak, the grief still laced in the woman’s voice as she continued her thoughts. 

“But...after all these years, dying, being reborn, dying again… the Traveler has left me with one life, and I am afraid to lose it…”

Eggshell was finally able to continue what he had been trying to tell her earlier. That the weapon Ghaul had would not only end her one life but everyone else’s. Anger flooded Ikora’s voice in return and Hollow was glad to hear the fight building in her voice again. 

Getting into the base was relatively easy. There were few Cabal posted outside, no doubt too cocky to think that anyone or anything would try to break in. Once inside and below the surface of the planet she couldn’t help but notice the lack of Cabal. Turning a corner she froze,  _ Taken. _

Static flooded her vision and she steeled herself, the voices of her fire team flooding her memories as they fought Oryx. Chasing him into his throne world, the towering menace as they died, and died,  _ and died. _ How they clung to each other and to the light they could share to finally bring Oryx down. 

She moved through the defensive wards, shooting them as she approached to set them off at a safe distance. She wondered if the Taken were the reason the Cabal had left, or if there was another worse enemy she had yet to come across. 

Dispelling the enemies she came across she worked her way further into the base, Ikora’s voice chattered to life. Was Ghaul’s plan really to create something akin to the Taken when he finally obtained the Traveler’s light? They would have to stop him before that became the truth, he would be unstoppable...immortal. 

She hurried through the base back towards the surface where Ikora had said she would be waiting. If this was Ghaul’s plan they would have to act much more quickly in their own plans. Having mined the Traveler’s light on Io there was no telling how close he was to completing his plans. 

“All channels! This is a skyshock alert! Someone or something drew the Taken here!”

Ikora must have known the voice, although her question for clarification of the voice on comms fell on deaf ears.

“Irrelevant! The Taken are sapping the moon’s energy. I hypothesize that Io will implode if someone does not intervene!”

Hollow groaned, Ikora was right, they couldn’t lose Io, she would need to stop the Taken. She would have to be fast about it, especially now that the possibility of Io  _ imploding _ was on the table. Rushing outside the base she was thankful Ikora had yet to arrive, the Taken were swarming the area a large portal summoning  _ something _ to the surface. 

Moving around the arena she took out the Wizards, their focus on opening the portal making them easy targets. Or they would be if the swarms of clearly Taken Cabal weren’t continuously shooting at her. 

Eggshell and Asher exchanged words, she actually found him to be quite amusing. He was blunt and held nothing back as he spoke. It reminded her in some ways of Shaxx. She wondered how he was doing, was he going to be upset with her when she returned?

Shaking Shaxx from her thoughts she focused on the large enemy the portal birthed before her. The area covered in a large Taken shield preventing her from leaving, not that she would have before finishing the fight. 

He hit  _ hard _ , each shot he fired staggered her where she sat filling the Taken full of lead. The void inside her grew and she couldn’t stop the laugh that filled the comms as the cold energy consumed her. Whispers filled her head as she launched herself into the air, Void energy swirling around her body, building and building until a large Nova bomb had built between her hands. 

Launching her arm forward she watched as it sailed almost lazily towards the boss, the initial burst of void consuming him as it splintered and separate, much more rapid, bodies of the void found their target and attacked. 

He was consumed by the void, the purple energy rippling across his body before he disappeared from this plane. A white light engulfed the area as the portal closed. She sighed as she lowered herself against one of the nearby crates, allowing Eggshell to do what he did best and speak for her. 

She was pleased to hear that Ikora was willing to return to the farm, albeit a bit worried when Asher interjected that he needed to speak to the both of them before they went anywhere. She was worried that there would be more she would have to do on this planet before she could leave. With each passing moment the possibility that Ghaul would find a way to use the Traveler’s light was more and more likely. 

Ikora wasn’t with Asher when she arrived at his coordinates, she was hopeful that the warlock had returned to the Farm. They could build a plan while she finished whatever Asher needed. 

“Ikora tells me that Commander...Somebody...I-Don’t-Care...has a plan to attack the so-called Almighty. A plan unsupported by any data! However, there are remnants of an old interplanetary defense network here. We shall use it to assess the Almighty’s capabilities. Then, we will tell Za-va-la precisely why his plan is wrong! And oh, I will relish that…”

So she really liked this insane man, there was something so...wild about him that she couldn’t resist the urge to help him. While his phrasing was a bit odd it did make sense for them to check out this defense system. If it could give them even a glimmer of insight into what the Almighty would hold it could mean the difference between a successful mission, or a failure. 

"Meanwhile, I refuse to squander valuable research opportunities. Therefore, you shall be my assistant. Go! All this talk wastes my time!”

With that he handed her a pulse rifle, swirling with void energy she gripped the weapon with a grin. She was going to like this gun, this Graviton Lance. Bowing in thanks to her fellow warlock she turned from him and headed towards his destination. She would just have to make quick work of his tasks, get the needed info and head back to take out the Almighty. 


	12. Chapter 12

The warmind she had been sent to investigate had been swarming with Taken and Vex, she really hadn’t been surprised when she found them. Nothing was ever an easy job. Reestablishing the connection had been worthwhile though, although upset that Ikora was still on Io she was glad the Warlock Vanguard had been here to help her deal with Asher. She still liked the man but he could be a bit overbearing at times. 

She was glad that she had taken the time to follow up on Asher’s suggestion, had they blown up the Almighty...they would have blown up the Sun as well. They would have to come up with a different plan to be able to stop it. 

Ikora was waiting for her this time when she met back up with Asher. The woman gave her an embrace and thanked her for her help before taking her exit. Hollow thanked Asher again, the man waving at her absentmindedly ignoring her offer to bring him to the farm with her. Something about too much research to leave behind if he went with her. 

So she let Eggshell transmat her back to the ship she had commandeered. The unfamiliar surroundings unnerved her slightly. She had noticed them on the way out, the pictures of a fireteam sitting on the consoles in front of her. She assumed it belonged to a titan, the mass amount of marks that cluttered the walls would be odd otherwise. 

She let Eggshell take the controls as she stood, moving out of the cockpit and back into the ship she let her hands trace over the worn fabric, she wondered if all belonged to a single titan, or if there were fallen comrades among the colors. 

Was her fireteam still alive? She fell, hunched over her knees her hands gripped at the robes covering her chest. Had they made it out of the Tower? Were they still trapped in the Last City? In the Reef? Where had they gone to stay radio silent?

Grief flooded her veins as she clutched her chest tighter trying to keep her hands from shaking. What she wouldn’t give to hear their voices now, teasing her for the way she jumped or her preference in robes. She missed lying out in the wilds with them, waiting for public events to start, or putting their Light on the line as they faced their opponents. 

“Hollow...they’ll be fine.”

She twisted her head up to find Eggshell inches from her face. He must have seen her drop and came to check on her. These were the times that she wished she could cry, to be able to do anything besides just sit and wail. A splitting pain cut through her head and she gripped the sides trying to even her breathing. 

Her fireteam would be fine, they were some of the strongest people she knew. If anything they should be the ones out here saving the system not her, but she had been chosen once more so she would uphold her clan’s honor and do the right thing. 

Standing up she ran her hands over the marks as she moved back towards the cockpit, lowering herself back into the seat Eggshell released the controls and she pushed towards the Farm. 

She arrived back at the Farm just as the Sun broke the sky and illuminated everything in a mix of oranges and purples. Setting the ship down gently Eggshell sent a message off to the titan letting them know their ship was available and they could meet Hollow if they wanted. The warlock was unsure about that but her partner insisted it would be a good thing so she relented. 

The Farm was just coming to life as she landed, the morning patrol swapping places with the evening crew as they stumbled towards the tents to rest. She would rest for a bit before meeting up with Cayde and Zavala to plan their next move. 

Or that was the plan…

“Hollow!”

Twisting her head away from her destination of the far field she brought the Hunter Vanguard into view. He was standing on the second floor of the tower, his arm waving rapidly to get her attention. Hawthorne stood beside him, a bewildered look on her face at the loud Exo’s movements. 

Groaning she turned to move towards Cayde. Slipping into the barn she noted Shaxx’s back was turned to her. The screens before him were busy with movement as a match was going, yet he didn’t even turn his head to glance at her. 

It stung. 

Fighting back the feeling she trotted up the steps to where Cayde now stood, leaning against one of the window frames. 

“Glad to have you back bud! Ikora landed last night.” 

He jammed his hand over his shoulder, his thumb pointing towards the field she had just been moving towards.    
  
“She’s out in her tent but make sure you stick around we’ll all talk when she gets up.”

Slapping his hand on her shoulder he held it there for a moment. Hollow stood still as she waited for more instructions but his hand simply fell back to his side and he turned away from her to look out the window.    
  
She wasn’t sure what that move was supposed to be but she brushed it off as she moved back down the staircase. Maybe she could run a round of crucible? Would Shaxx even let her in? Sure she could hold back on using her Light but it might feel unfair to some...

She came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, a few guardians milling around his table. He had turned to face them now, answering questions they were firing off towards him. It didn’t go unnoticed to Hollow that the guardians were all female. 

His head tilted up to point in her direction only for a moment before turning it back towards the guardians around him. She clenched her fists, there was no reason for her to feel this way. Her feelings towards the handler were just as warranted as these guardians feelings. She wasn’t anything special to him. 

Twisting on her heel she left the barn, crossing the courtyard she kept her head down. She didn’t want to see the faces of those she passed, as they ogled her. She had never wanted to be chosen, although maybe that was the reason  _ why she was. _

Crawling into her tent she allowed Eggshell to remove her clothes, leaving her there just a metal skeleton. She lifted her hands above her head as she lay there, staring at the rubber she groaned. No one knew what Shaxx was, or no one that she knew of. Would he even be interested in an Exo? She was rubber and metal, hard and stiff. 

She lowered her hands to her face covering the shining metal and sighed deeply. She would have to force these feelings back down, there was no use dwelling on them now. Not when she had to save the city first. 

-

Shaxx had seen her briefly for a moment as she left the barn. Part of him wanting to shove the other guardians to the side and chase after her. Yell at her for being so stupid, for leaving like she did. The other part, the one that won, told him to stay still. He was still the Crucible Handler, these guardians were his responsibility. 

Once they had finally pittered away, and the matches for the day came to a close he was quick to leave the barn. He had no idea if she would still be in her tent or if that was even where she went after she had left the barn. He would try anyway, it would do him no good to stand around and wonder if he could check for himself. 

He paused outside her tent, wondering what he was doing here. Why did he have the drive to come this way to see her? Ever since he had last seen her with Cayde the Hunter had made a point to make remarks his way about ‘his guardian’. There was something he enjoyed about that, although he would never tell the sly Vanguard member that. 

The flap to her tent shifted slightly and he watched curiously as her Ghost popped out from inside. It whirred silently before him for a few moments before it disappeared back through the opening it had exited from. Taking it as a sign that he could go inside as well he lifted the cloth and entered the small area. 

Much to his surprise she was still asleep, he had figured with her Ghost’s approval that she would be awake, or at least  _ covered. _

Sprawled out before him on the small mat was the guardian he had been fretting over for the past few days. He was thankful that she willingly slept, it meant she was still at least taking care of herself. 

He gravitated towards her, the dark void energy swirling around her was almost hypnotic. It wasn’t just Warlocks that listened to the void, anyone could hear the whispering if they listened hard enough. It was just Warlocks had the patience to sit for hours on end to decipher what they were saying. 

He knelt beside her, taking in her form. He had many chances while they were under the barn but even then her ghost had kept her boots and robes on. He had thought she looked small then but without the bulky fabric of her robes she was almost skeletal. 

Her smooth chest plate stretched across her top half, broken into segments for mobility as the plating wrapped around her abdomen. He couldn’t see the wires on her core, the rubber stretched underneath the plates kept it from view. He could see them on her arms though, a few plates on the outside painted the same color of her face. A bundle of wires swam down her arm, lacing in and out with the gears that gave her mobility. His Redjacks had nothing on her hands, intricate plating and gears made up the appendages and he lifted one once more to get a better view. 

The insides of her hands had a thick rubber padding, the outside littered with plating to keep the gears safe from harm. He wondered how often her hands broke, or if they did at all. That would be a question for later. Still prodding at her hands he glanced down at her legs, large pieces of metal curved to give her legs shape. Much like her arms he could see the gears and wires, although unlike her arms there was metal plating on the back of her legs as well. Her feet were interesting, slim pieces of metal fitted together to give the shape, he noted how similar they were to Arcite. 

Turning his attention back to her face he stared at her for some time. The bright lights were hidden as she slept, although every now and then he could see the lights flicker in her mouth. He gently placed her hand back to her side where he had grabbed it and reached out to press his palm against the side of her face. 

“Lord Shaxx, Ikora is on her way here to speak with Hollow.”

He dropped his hand quickly standing up, the last thing he wanted to do was explain to Ikora why he was here. He didn’t even know what he would tell the quick witted Warlock. There was no reason for him to come here in the first place. Slipping out of her tent he moved towards the barn, taking the back way around the building to try and avoid the Vanguard member. 

He needed to clear his head, there was no point in continuing to worry about the guardian. As much as he tried to tell himself that though he knew he wouldn’t be able too. Somehow she had done something to make it impossible to go a day without thinking about her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're curious like I was to what Exo's look like without their armor.   
Check out Ada-1 the Black Armory Keeper.   
She actually doesn't wear a whole lot of armor so it's a good point of reference!


	13. Chapter 13

She knew exactly where she was when she opened her eyes.    
  
She had been here before a few times, not that she had ever succeeded, she wasn’t sure what happened when she did. She knew what was to come and had never passed. 

It was an eerily beautiful place, a black plain as far as she could see, in the distance a mountain range, cutting the setting sun into shapes that littered the plains before her. It wasn’t the landscape that brought her here though, it was the large tower sitting in the distance.    
  
The Deep Stone Crypt. 

Like always she has no weapons, no armor and no light. No Eggshell beside her to give her words of wisdom or encouragement. She is always alone when she comes here, or she always  _ starts  _ alone. 

Like a switch being flipped people begin to move towards her and something inside her goes into overdrive and she does what she was made for. She kills. 

Most of the faces she doesn’t recognize at first, people she must have known in her original life, faces that she knows from these dreams but has no names to make them significant. They fight back of course, they always do. Some have weapons and others don’t. 

She moves past their bodies to another wave, and wonders if they come in the waves of her life, if they come as she has met them. Slowly faces that seem to be more familiar come into view, a gun now in her hands, picked up from someone along the way. People she knows from the Tower, old vendors long gone with the Cabal attack or lost in the wilds. 

It was always here that she would be pulled out, woken or sometimes killed. The faces become more and more familiar and the drive to kill slowly waning as some part of her cries out for her to stop. 

They never speak, she wonders if that makes this easier or harder. 

Now she has names for these faces and the first few she sees she can feel her throat tighten. Her fireteam stands before her, all without their ghosts and armor but heavily equipped. She wonders if they become stronger the closer their connection is. 

She can feel the bullets littering her body as she lifts her weapon, a mantra she doesn’t want singing in her brain, to kill, to kill,  ** _to kill. _ **

While fighting the ones she loves a new face emerges from the plains, one of the only ones she’s ever seen still armored and she feels the weapon drop from her hands. A brilliant mix of orange and white moves towards her to join her fireteam and she fights to keep standing. 

She has lost her right arm, blown off by the bullets still firing against her. The well placed shots blowing her leg off and she collapses to the ground. She knows at one point she’ll have to face him, she’ll end up watching him fall to the ground like the members of her fireteam she took out before he arrived.    
  
All Exo’s have the drive to reach the Deep Stone Crypt. To return to where they were born. 

He’s standing above her now, silent as all the others as he lowers his gun to press against the center of her forehead. Her mind screams at her to grab the gun, to finish him like she had the others. 

A well placed bullet between her eyes is all it takes for the sun to set and the area to be plummeted into complete darkness. Once again she has failed to reach the crypt. 

Shooting up from her position in her tent she catches a glimpse of color as it leaves her tent and she swivels her head to pull her companion into view. Eggshell, lazily floating near her feet. She scrambles to ask him questions, their connection requiring no words from her broken throat. 

“Hollow?”

Before her friend can tell her who was here Ikora’s soft voice calls out into her tent and she swallows the questions for later. 

“Yes, Ikora. You can come in.”

The flap lifts and her mentor comes into view, a breath of relief washes over Hollow at the remembrance that her Vanguard is here and safe. No longer lost on Io. 

Ikora makes no mention of her state of dress, no doubt uncaring to how she rests. Simply standing near the entrance she clears her throat. 

“If you’re ready to join us we need to discuss our next steps.”

Nodding she stands to her feet, the visions of the Deep Stone Crypt all but shoved to the back of her mind. She sees Ikora there, Zavala and Cayde too. They always appear with her fireteam although she recalls hazily that they were strangely absent in her latest visit.    
  
Each second that passes her visit will grow more hazy and she’ll soon forget most of her trip. It won’t be until she returns again that she’ll remember her prior attempts and she’ll remember what’s ahead of her in the black plains. 

Eggshell is quick to don her in her clothes. The new robes she had gotten from Asher were soft and she honestly didn’t mind the soft pale yellow color they were. Trudging out of her tent she lifted her arms above her head, her gears screeching and grinding against each other with the movement as she released the pressure that had built up in her sleep. 

Following her mentor she found herself heading towards the barn. She swallowed the fire crackling in her throat as the pair entered and she saw Shaxx. Arms crossed and leaning backwards against his table she could feel his gaze as they passed him and entered one of the back rooms. Cayde and Zavala were already inside and she took a quick glance around the small room. A table sat in the middle covered in plans that mapped out no doubt whatever she was about to go do. 

“Soooo….”

Her attention shifted towards Cayde, that was never a good start.    
  
“We need you to steal a Cabal ship and go turn off that big ol’ gun on the Almighty.”

_ “Cayde!” _

“What!? It’s what needs to be done! It’s not like she can say no!”

She took a long breath trying to steady herself from the news as Ikora bickered with Cayde and his wording. He was right though, she couldn’t say no. Even if someone else volunteered to go she nor the vanguard would allow them to go. It was suicide.

“Hollow. We wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t necessary.”

She raised her hand to stop Zavala. She didn’t need reassurance. She had already done stupid and insane stunts for the Vanguard before, this could just be another thing added to her list. She pulled Eggshell from her robes watching as he spun a bit before lifting to his place beside her. 

“What’s the plan after we turn off the weapon?”

Cayde threw his hands in the air before crossing them, no doubt staying silent so Ikora wouldn’t chastise him again. Her soft spoken Vanguard approached her.    
  
“We take the fight to Ghaul.” 

She held up her hand to prevent Eggshell from speaking as she stood in silence with her leaders. She knew what Ikora meant, Eggshell didn’t need to gather any more clarification. She would have to go fight Ghaul once more and although she would never tell her Vanguard.  _ It terrified her.  _

Nudging her partner he spun a few times listening to her thoughts before bobbing in confirmation. 

“First the Almighty!”

She was thankful for her Ghost. That he could speak for her, so she wouldn’t have to speak and give away how terrified she was. How if something happened to her there would be no hope. The weight of the war came crashing down upon her again and she felt her throat tighten. Suddenly the room they were in was too small, too cramped, the gaze of her Vanguard was too harsh. Too full of hope that she would be the one to save them.    
  
Her frantic connection to Eggshell pinged her partner that she needed to leave. With a quick goodbye she found her body nestled in her own ship. She hadn’t figured her ship would have been finished yet but wasn’t about to complain. Back in familiar surroundings she slowly let her breathing return to normal. She could do this…. _ she had to do this. _

With a nod to her partner Eggshell fired up her jumpship, climbing into her seat she glanced only for a moment at the pictures scattered about the area before lifting off and heading towards the firebase nearby. One thing at a time. Just one thing at a time. 


End file.
